It’s late afternoon/early evening as I clear a space to start this post. The title came to me while driving to a hair appointment, so if you’re ever stuck…take a drive.

I’m still haunted by a woman I met over the weekend. She was sitting at a picnic table outside of the local Texaco in the shade, but she looked tired and overheated. As I approached the store, she immediately said, “Hello!”, which is unusual nowadays, but I smiled and responded, “Hello, lovely and how are you?” She said, “Oh, I’m just trying to get the nerve to walk back across the street.” I looked at the road bustling with weekend traffic and inquired, “You mean HWY 1431?”, and she said, “Yes.”

I strolled into the store to pick up a few things and when I came out she was standing up with a hemi-cane, which is a walker you can use with one hand. I stopped beside her and waited to hear some more of her story. She lived directly across the street and had walked here to get out of the house for a moment. Something was wrong with her hip and she gave me the medical term which I wasn’t familiar with, but she’d been cooped up for days and needed to get out. She was regretting her decision, but I was willing to assist, so asked, “Do you want me to walk with you?”

She looked shocked, yet relieved as we made our way toward the street. She talked as we walked and looked up to me to say, “I never thought I’d be using a walker at 42 years old.” I nodded and patted her arm in reassurance of the uncertainty of life.

The street consists of 5 lanes, so we waited for no traffic in the first 2 lanes, made our way to the middle turn lane and stopped. She was clothed in all black, but I was wearing white and really hoped that would help with visibility. When there was no traffic in the remaining two lanes, she took off across the street to the sidewalk, as I remained in the middle lane watching as she disappeared onto her street. Traffic slowed as I headed back to the parking lot to get into my truck and head back home.

I’m not sure why this experience impacted me so deeply, but it did. For her to be sitting there the moment I arrived and to be standing there waiting when I came out of the store felt like she was placed in my path. God knows I have enough bravery to share and to the people driving by it may have resembled stupidity, but I didn’t mind.

This encounter showed me that helping someone in need is easier than we think simply by paying attention while living out our daily lives. All they really need is someone who’s not afraid to walk alongside them.