Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The kindness of strangers.

Today has been quite the day already. Dan left for work this morning (if you can call it morning) to head for Hartford where he is doing a three-month rotation. It is about a 45 minute drive. I got a call from him at about 4:45 telling me he had forgotten his ID badge which allows him to do everything and get in everywhere in the hospital. Basically he could do no work without it. He was already in Hartford at this time and needed to start rounding on patients and so he was in a tight spot. Being the good wife that I am (ha ha) I dragged the kids into the dark, cold, car and headed north. Grace at one point on our journey asked me in confusion "Mom, WHAT are we doing?" When we got to Hartford Dan was still rounding, so we arranged to meet at the Dunkin Donuts across from the hospital. So the kids and I, all in pajamas and each dragging a blanket, stumbled into the donut shop. I am sure we were quite the site. I got a lot of compassionate looks and I am pretty sure several people thought we had slept in the car last night. A few people offered to buy me coffee, and the manager gave the kids free donuts. Many people admired the kids and offered kind words and several "God bless you honey's" One sweet lady gave me a dollar for each child and told me to "hang in there because I was doing the lord's work." She also admonished me to read my bible and that would help me. I appreciated the good wishes, but felt so bad taking her money. I am so glad it wasn't more than that. While we weren't quite as needy as we may have appeared, I was impressed and touched by the kindness of strangers so early on a cold morning in Hartford. Thank you for lifting a tired mom's spirits.

7 comments:

April said...

Oh how sweet of those people. I can just imagine you and your cute kids walking in in pjs to funny. Its good to know there are such kind people in such a crazy world.

Ruby said...

I can't stop laughing as I write this! That is so funny. I would have been tempted to let everyone know I was the wife of a dentist. You are humble!

LizzyP said...

Can I just mention (since you didn't emphasize it) that you are AWESOME for supporting your husband like you do? THAT is the Lord's work, too, and I'm so inspired by your example.

By the way, I couldn't help but notice the contrast between this experience and that crazy one you had a while ago when that man was so mean to you at the grocery store about your kids getting kidnapped if you didn't keep an eye on them. Kindness changes everything, doesn't it?

cat said...

how funny! and how cute that they all had their pjs on and carrying blankets. and that woman telling you to read the bible - how nice and what a crack-up!
i also need your snail mail address. email me!

syerke said...

Aww, that is a great start to any day, even if it was early. I was thinking the same thing as your friend LizzyP..much different than the mean man at the grocery store. Do you think it has anything to do with this time of year?

JoDee said...

Wow! This kind of made me chuckle! You're a great wife and great mom. Glad there are so many well-meaning empathetic people out there.

Julie w said...

This story made me almost cry. How sweet of those people! That's really a neat story! Thanks for sharing