On The Receiving End

May 26, 2011

Yesterday I had a blog post brewing in my head but till I got home to record it, it was too late to do anything. The day was a very good day with quite a few unexpected joys. These past few weeks I have been visiting with different friends across the State and yesterday I ended up visiting my former neighbors at Black Rock Retreat who are now in a nursing home. I did much more listening than talking but it was a good time. On Tuesday I met with a friend, Kendra Denlinger to explore the option of renting from her for a few months there in Lancaster. After a good conversation, I decided to walk to the Lancaster County Library Book Sale which was happening on F & M College Campus, not too far away. I set out with only my purse. The sale ended up being on the other side of campus and further than I had expected. I arrived there and was delighted to find some books that I figured I would have to buy new or on Amazon. Since this was the half price on all books day, I felt like I had found a goldmine. The problem is that when it comes to books, I love to read and have them on hand or even have some to give away. And so when I left the sale I had a large box of books with me and a ¾ mile walk ahead of me. I ended up walking through the college campus so that I could stop frequently and put the box down. There is nothing comfortable about carrying a large box for a long distance.

When I finally left the campus and started down the sidewalk, a uniformed young man on a bicycle stopped to ask me if I needed a hand. I really hate accepting help, especially when it was my fault that I had the heavy box, but I decided that if he wanted to help, I would not say “no”. And so he left his bike and carried the box the next 5 blocks for me. Apparently there are neighborhood security patrols in that area of town who ride around looking for ways to help people out whether that be aiding a stranded motorist or a young woman who bought too many books for 50 cents. I was thankful for the help and returning to my car, I headed off to pick up some free furniture. A woman who use to live in the area and do foster care was getting rid of furniture and was glad to pass it on to me for my future home with foster children. I rounded up some help to go and pick it up and of course it took longer than I had planned. Just before returning my dad’s work van to his house, it stopped working in that it had no power steering and though it turned on, there was no power to move anywhere. I had to leave it at my brother-in-law’s apartments and of course the next day when my dad checked it out, it was fine. I am not sure why I frequently encounter such “problems” with cars.Overall it was a day of unexpected help which was a blessing.