More Than Anything

As I was walking today I passed an old man standing on the sidewalk.

He called after me, "Where are you going?"

I was going to ignore him & just keep walking but something in his voice...

Well, it sounded like he recognized me.

I turned and said, "I'm going to visit a friend."

He replied, "I thought you were taking me to lunch."

I looked at him closely. He was 80-something, very frail and disoriented.

I said, "I'm afraid I'm not aware of any lunch."

He became more urgent, "But I'm ready to go to lunch. Now."

At this point I knew I needed to assist him.

I immediately thought I'd call 911 and stay with him until help arrived.

As I unlocked my phone someone came running from a nearby building.

It turned out to be his caregiver - she explained,

"I had an emergency in the bathroom and he wandered off."

She grabbed him by the arm to help him get back home and continued,

"Thank you for helping him."

He looked at me with his big sad eyes and I barely held it together.

Before he left I had to know, "Where were we going to have lunch?"

His voice was heavy with disappointment as he mumbled, "Canter's."

I nodded slowly figuring he'd probably eaten there a million times.

I wish it could've been possible. More than anything.

Comments

[Amanda]

Aww...I want to take him to lunch now too!