The Old Man on the Highway

--by SpiritualWoman, posted Nov 4, 2008

As I turned off the highway onto the ramp to go home, I encountered a little old man on the side of the road. His sign read, "Stranded, need ride to get to friend." He had a bag, a cane and the clothes on his back.

I turned my car to the right, the traffic horrific, no one letting me turn around. So I went around the block and pulled a u-turn so that I could drive by this little man to offer him help. A s I got turned, he had already begun walking up the road towards me. It was like he knew what I was doing. I stopped beside him and asked him what he was doing.

He responded, "Well pretty lady, I am trying to get to my friend who is dying. We have been friends for almost 50 years and now he lay dying -- I want to be with him. I have no money, I am hungry and I'm very hot from the sun." I immediately gave him my bottle of cold water that I had not yet opened. It was scorching outside and he was burnt and sweaty. I offered to get him food and some snacks for travel and he offered me his gratitude.

I got him some food, a 6 pack of water and a plastic cooler bag to put everything in. I then went to hand him $20.00 and told him I was sorry, this was all the money I had. He reached his hand out to me and shook my hand. Then he placed the $20.00 back into my hand. I looked so surprised, I know I did. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

He told me, "You've been so kind little princess, and I cannot take your last $20.00. But I thank you and I hope you always have all that you need." I began to cry and he touched my hand and I cried even harder. He told me not to cry. I had been so kind and he was ok. I begged him to please take the money, it will make me feel so much better. He finally took the money and he offered me his walking stick. Gosh, my heart was just on fire. "What is going on here?" I thought.

I got out of my car, went over to him (of course I was hesitant to touch him, he was so dirty), but I went ahead and hugged him. I felt so warm and at peace. The little old man finally took my money and sobbed as I drove away and he walked on. If he only knew that although I stopped to help him, he had given me the greatest gift ever. I will never forget him and often wonder if he made it to his best friend. What a love. What a blessing. They are so often disguised. I know I received one that day and didn't even know that stop was really for me.

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Posted by SpiritualWoman
Nov 4, 2008
Comments (25)

Readers Comments

JeanieMarie wrote: Perhaps we shouldn't be too critical of the woman not giving him a ride, we don't know all the circumstances & perhaps what she did was in fact the right thing to do. She helped him to the best of her ability & i admire her for that. We all start at the 'beginning' doing kind things & then grow with each opportunity.

revbyers wrote: I think that is great that you were kind, but you left him in the same condition you found him. Why be afraid to touch him? Why not give him a ride? Hugs and water is nice, but so temporary.

66sunlu wrote: Be kind to others and one day you yourself will be rerwarded for this in return.

dragonfly wrote: The thought of you helping that little old man just tugged so hard at my heart i cried, so many times i have wanted to stop and help and never did but now i will i promise.

Jack wrote: Don't get me wrong here what you did was a good thing but don't yo think maybe you could given him a ride to the place where he needed to be?

sweetheart wrote: That was very nice of you to help that poor old man! Do you know how old he was? That was nice to offer him 20. 00 dollars. What state was this in? Thank you very much for helping that poor old man!

Mabrouk wrote: This story almost brought tears to my eyes. I'm a muslim. I believe we all worship the same supreme being, but each in his/her own way. Brotherhood of man, love, kindness, absence of xenophobia, racism and ethnocentrism are the answers to our problems all.

Ana wrote: As a muslim, our faith also enjoins that we treat people with compassion, love and kindness. This type of a story is exactly what the world needs more of: honest and giving people. Imagine if all the people were as giving as this, poverty would soon fade out, misery and greed would become a rare species, and hearts would be rekindled with true compassion for all of humanity.

May allah (the god of jesus, moses, noah, and muhammad) allow all of us to be compassionate human beings and help those who are less fortunate than us.

robson wrote: I thought the good samaritan was only a biblical story. Now this is a revival of this story. Thanks for sharing it to people like me.

Tori wrote: Wow, this story inspired me so much. That was an amazing thing to do and i admire you so much for it. This is the kind of person i'm striving to become.

Thank you. :]

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