The Kindness of Strangers

My poor car has been leaking transmission fluid for a good week now and has yet to get to the shop! I drove it home yesterday after I returned from a business trip and wasn't too impressed with its moaning and groaning so I made the decision to head to bed early so I could dig my coveted bicycle out of the basement in the morning. What I found at 7am were flat tires! I decided to take it across Sheridan to Tops and fill them. I probably shouldn't have been riding on the flats, but it was just quicker that way. I decided I would walk the bike across Sheridan since traffic is dicey on the busy street. I dismounted and took one step forward onto the curb. My foot immediately slid forward and, being on an incline, there was nothing to stop my feet from going out from under me. I was soon stunned on the ground, tailbone first. I literally could not move from the area and my bike shot out from me, half in the road. I sat there trying to breathe and after a few moments was able to flip onto my knees and drag my bike with me onto the sidewalk. The pain shot through the back of my legs, centering from my tailbone injury. I stayed there on my hands and knees digging out my cell phone to call someone to help me. That is when my forever savor, Rob, appeared! He had seen the fall and pulled into the panera bread parking lot with his bulging F150 to aid me. He is a volunteer firefighter here and insisted on taking me to the hospital. Getting to my feet, I thanked him for his concern and lamented that, besides some throbbing, I didn't feel like anything was extremely wrong to warrant a trip to the hospital. He was kind enough to throw my bike into the bed of his truck and drive me 4 streets down to my house. He said there had been reports all morning about accidents due to the black ice. I thanked him repeatedly for helping me and for bringing me back to my house. He said it was no problem, that he was just actually headed to the hospital at Kenmore Mercy. Apparently his sister’s truck flipped on the 290 and she was rushed to the hospital! I felt AWFUL! How big is this guy’s heart that he would stop to help a random stranger when he had no idea the condition of his sister who just flipped her truck??!!

His sister is in my thoughts today and I cannot give it up enough for the kindness of strangers today.