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HeroicStories #784: The Key
Reaching more than 42,000 subscribers in 118 countries, this is...
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HeroicStories #784: 7 January 2010 www.HeroicStories.com
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--+-- This Story Originally Ran as #342: 23 September 2002 --+--
The Key Story Editor:
by Leslie Ligon Joyce Schowalter
Colorado, USA
Years ago, when Colorado was going through hard economic times, I lost
my job and it took me six months to find another. My unemployment ran
out, I had no income coming in, and I was behind on my rent.
Eventually I was evicted from my apartment, and my 7-year-old daughter
and I were living in the car with everything we could fit in it.
We sold everything that wasn't absolutely essential and used that money
to buy food. We washed up in gas station bathrooms, and I tried to find
well-lighted parking lots to sleep in. Even though it was still fall and
hadn't snowed yet, the nights were very chilly.
I got my daughter to school daily and put in more applications, giving a
friend's phone number for call-backs. I told my friend my phone was
disconnected, but not that we were living in the car. I didn't tell
anyone that we were living in the car, out of embarrassment I guess.
After about two weeks, I found a job. I went to see the friend whose
phone I'd been using, visiting her at the video store where she worked.
She told me I looked really tired, had big bags under my eyes, and asked
what was going on. I told her the true story, and added that when I
received my first paycheck in two weeks, I'd be able to rent an
apartment.
I didn't know that a young man was standing in the next aisle over until
I finished my story and he came up to me and placed a key in my hand. He
said he had just moved to a bigger apartment and his old one was empty
and paid for until the end of the month -- three weeks away. He
apologized that there was no furniture in the apartment, and said he
would call the utility company and tell them leave the electricity on
until the end of the month. He then gave me the address.
By this time I was crying and trying to tell him that when I got back on
my feet I would pay him back. He told me not to worry about it; if the
apartment was empty and paid for, someone should use it.
I never got that gentleman's name, and he never got mine. The fact that
he trusted me to live there, not knowing if I was the type of person to
damage the apartment or not, simply amazed me.
The three weeks that my daughter and I stayed there allowed me to get
myself back on track, and I was able to get an apartment when I got
paid. I have had a lot of help from various people throughout my life
and I have helped as many people as I could in return, but what that
young man did for us that day was moving beyond words.
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Jackie Goddard's story, "The Little Town That Did" (#783) told an
uplifting tale of the countless kindnesses of her small prairie town,
when her husband was stricken with cancer.
Jo in New Mexico writes: "Every time you think you might as well give up
on everyone, a story like this comes along. How wonderful for you and
your husband that there was so much love in that little town, Jackie."
An anonymous reader in the USA sent a sobering comment: "This story hit
close to home. I've been fighting Hepatitis C I got from a blood
transfusion years ago. It has affected my whole body, my bones are
deteriorated and my liver and kidneys are giving out. I could no longer
work by the end of 1999, and by 2006, I had gone through all my savings
and retirement 401k. Social Security flat out refuses to help because
I'm not dying from one of their approved illnesses. They sent me another
denial letter the day before Christmas. Even though it sounds like I'm
complaining, I feel like a very lucky person, as I have people who do
love me and provide a home for me. Be thankful for what you have, It
really can all be gone tomorrow."
In recent issues we ran reader comments about "Secret Generosity"
(#781), a story about a filling station owner and trooper who helped a
young family whose car broke down on their way to a vacation. One reader
noted that the story "wasn't original," and other readers replied,
wondering it wasn't the type of thing that had happened many times.
Rene from California shed some light on #781: "This exact story appeared
as HeroicStories #475, in 2004. Whoops! In fact we did run this story
before. Leaving that note off of the story did produce an interesting
dialog, with some very interesting points made by readers. (Those
comments are in issue #783, at our archives:
http://heroicstories.com/archives.html .)
Elayne in Texas "Normally I keep my thoughts on the comments to myself,
because there's always someone who makes my same point in one tenth the
words. However I found the Tennessee Department of Safety's website for
thank-you notes about their employees: http://tinyurl.com/yz3dloa It
contains many stories about troopers and other employees) going out of
their way to assist stranded motorists, accident victims, confused
drivers, and many others. What a welcome relief from the usual negative
publicity! If my state doesn't have such a site, I am going to suggest
it. Then I intend to commit as many copycat kindnesses as I am capable
of!"
Why not copy Elayne's idea to suggest such a page for your state's web
site? If you do, be sure to let us know. We'll keep track of the
states, and what results are obtained.
Joyce Schowalter, Networker in Chief
Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
COMMENTS about stories are always welcome -- please include your first
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