Take Care of One Another

      The other day we were visiting family in a different city and my husband, my son and I made a trip to a local department store. We were chatting it up as we walked through the parking lot, lost in our own little world, discussing what we needed to buy and rambling on about our trip. We hardly noticed the old man on the ground in the parking lot next to his car parked directly in front of the store. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw what I thought was a man bending down to retrieve something he had dropped. I continued on into the store when something made me turn around and look again. This time I was certain, the old man wasn't just trying to get something, he was trying to get up. I called Michael over and told him that I thought the old man was in trouble. Michael ran out the door and to his side. They spoke and Michael picked him up as easily as if he were a sack of potatoes and helped him into his car. Michael smiled his award winning smile and jogged back inside. "Yep," he said, "he was stuck. He tried to pick up something he dropped and fell. He just couldn't get back up on his own. Good thing you sent me over there." Then, just like that, Michael was over looking at swim trunks. Crisis averted.

      Then that same afternoon, we caught an early movie. As soon as the movie ended, I made a quick detour to the ladies room. When I returned, I found Michael right smack in the middle of a heated argument between a young girl (probably twenty something) and an older lady (70ish I'd say). Apparently, the old lady had kicked the girl's seat because she got out her cell phone near the end of the movie. She must have smacked it pretty hard too, given the red face the young lady was wearing. They were knee deep in their war of words when the men with the ladies started to exchange words and there was Michael directly between them, both arms out telling them to calm down. Michael quietly told the gentlemen that a fight between the young man and the elderly one just wasn't going to happen and they backed apart, thank goodness. That didn't slow down the women though, both refused to yield. Michael stayed planted between them until they decided that they had enough and moved on. Afterwards I grabbed Michael and asked him why on earth he decided to get involved. He said, "There was no way I was going to let that young girl hit that old lady. She could have really hurt her." To this I responded, "But why was it your problem?" "It wasn't," he said. "It just wasn't right and nobody else was stopping it, so I did." Then in typical Michael style, not another word was said about it. That was that. Crisis averted.

      Now I should mention that there were other people, lots of other people, in that department store parking lot that day that walked right past that man on the ground and there were dozens at the movie theater including a rather nervous looking theater manager that dismissed the event as none of their business. I couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to those people had Michael chosen not to get involved. For that matter, what if we all just stopped caring? What if everyone decided that it was someone else's problem? It is easier and probably safer at times not to get involved but does that make it right?

      Easter is a time of sacrifice and love. Perhaps the best way to honor that sentiment is to live it, everyday, the best way we can. Love freely, help out when we can, and take care of one another. It sounds so simple but it can have a profound effect on your life and the lives of those around you. 

Happy Easter to all my peeps!  :)

Laurie