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*New Feature*
"Stories from the Past"
This page features delivery stories that have been published in our newsletter since its inception in November 1991. This page will receive updates approximately every two weeks, so please check back to read other stories from the past.
The following story is taken from the April 1998 newsletter.
"Sitting in his wheelchair, dignified and proud"
by Jim Orcutt
As the other volunteers unloaded the elevator, I walked down the hallway to the apartment. Knocking at the door, I called out, "My Brother's Keeper." I heard a male voice “OK" and then, after a long wait, the door opened
There was Fred, sitting in his wheelchair with his left pant leg pinned up to the knee. He had just moved into this apartment, in the high-rise, after having had his leg amputated at the VA hospital.
He was a black man in his sixties, and upon seeing him, the first words that came to my mind were, "dignified and proud".
Following his wheelchair into the apartment, I thought of my mother. Before her death, several years ago, she had a small apartment, exactly like this one, in the very same building. Ma's apartment had been packed with every kind of knick-knack and ornament that a grandmother with fifteen grandchildren could accumulate. No matter when you came in, there was always the
smell of something cooking.
Fred's place was pretty jumbled. He had a couch and a small chair piled with clothes and there were boxes all around. But, the bedroom was empty.
With some difficulty Fred wheeled around the small crowded space. He was nervous and seemed a little uncomfortable, constantly moving and talking. It was clear that Fred was having a hard time being a recipient.
We made small talk and joked a bit and he seemed to relax a little. I asked where he was from and he said, "l'm from Wareham, but with this leg gone, I can't make it back there any longer, so they got me this apartment."
After we set up his bed and brought in the dresser, the place started to look a little more like home. Fred sat there looking at the new bed and then he said, "I really want to thank you guys. If you hadn't brought me this bed, I'd have been sleeping in this chair tonight."
I told him, "Fred, the bed is not from us. We just brought it up here on the truck." Handing him the crucifix, I said, "This is the person who sent you the bed."
He looked at the crucifix in his hand and said, "Well, I know that ....for sure, I do."
As we drove away, I thought for the thousandth time, "What a great privilege God has given us....that He allows us to be the bearers of His love and hope."
If you would like to comment on this story or have an experience at My Brother's Keeper that provided a moment close to Christ for you, please send an email to:
"Whatever
you do for the most humble of my people, you do for me."
Matthew 25:40