Do the right thing.....

I was reminded of a great story while with some friends..

We were sharing some things and then a question of How do you do something for others? or.... When have you missed an opportunity to do something for someone?.. I immediately remembered an event from a while back..

It was a crisp Saturday morning.. A group of gals were all getting together for a fun filled day at Eastern Mkt. For a while there, a few of us girls were making pretty regular trips down to this great Detroit Landmark.'

On this particular morning my sister had joined us.

The morning was filled with all the great things to see,do, smell,taste and buy.. It had turned out to be a wonderful memory filled day...
As per our usual we were up and at the Market at the Butt Crack of dawn.. even beating some of the vendors, so that by 10:00 A M... not only had we already eaten breakfast, bought our share of fresh produce.. But even visited the poultry place !

(Seeing... and SMELLING......dead chickens at 7:00 in the morning takes a lot more intestinal fortitude then one would think!!! )

So that when all was said and done... As a final treat to ourselves.....we all stopped at the bakery on the corner.. (Unfortunately it is no longer there...)

It had ALL kinds of amazing freshly baked items.. that morning's special was a delicious cheese bread that we had all sampled.. It was to die for.. and still piping hot..

This was our last purchase for the day...

I drove,so everyone piled into my car..(6 woman total ) tired but happy for having gotten so much done in just a few hours ... and also of course that we had spent the time together... Good Vibes were emanating all around...

Until...

I came to a stop at the light... there on the corner.. only feet away from us stood a man holding a sign that simply said.. HUNGRY...Only one word..

Even though we were at a busy intersection,just next to the entrance to Little Mack.. and it was morning....

It wasn't so much danger we felt... but perhaps some guilt....No one said a word...but the feeling was palpable..

Here we were..... bloated from our breakfast, and samplings, my trunk filled to the top with bags and bags of all the wonderful food we had each chosen for our families... if all of this wasn't enough to make us feel bad.. the steam from all the cheese bread practically clouded up the windows of the car ... the aroma wafting out on to the street...

Everyone in that car was thinking it...

WE... had MORE THAN ENOUGH...

and this man on the corner... had nothing...

Yet each of us were frozen .. not knowing what to do...

We couldn't just pull over and give him some of our food.??? Could we???...... Should we crack the window open and offer him money???...

Each of us thought about doing SOMETHING.....

But only one of us did....

Before a vote or discussion could be had.. I heard the rear window of the passenger side go down...

My sister without a second thought.......reached over to the man who was literally a few feet away..

and said "Here.. take this"

handing him her prized....loaf of cheese bread...

He took the loaf of bread.. put it in his Nap sack... and said....

"Thank You... God Bless You"

That was the extent of the exchange between them.. it all happened so fast....

The light turned green... and I proceeded onto the ramp.... Dead silence in the car...after a few minutes, We hear sniffling in the back.... then a little bit more... and louder... and finally I said to my friend L.

"L...... are you OK?".... She finally managed to eek out her words between sniffles...

"Yeah.. I am OK... but..."

What?... What's wrong?

Now almost bawling... " I could have given him my cheese bread !!!"... " Why.. Why didn't I? "

We all laughed nervously and agreed that yes.. we all COULD have given him our bread.. but we just didn't think fast enough.

We tried to make light of it.. if for nothing else to mask our discomfort at not having done what we could have done....each one of us witnessed a simple act of kindness, that I personally will never forget...

Now.... I TRY to remember that if I feel called to do a kindness and have a sense of urgency.....

I try to do it as soon as possible.. and not over think it....when the time is right.. Do the right thing....as to not have any regrets...

It was a perfect example of what I always say.. We are all here to learn from each other...That day my sister taught us all a beautiful... important lesson.

You know.. sometimes we forget just how much we have... and forget that....it's OK to just let go of your cheese bread....