Just waiting for it....

Several years ago, I was riding the St. Louis city bus system, and an elderly black woman was sitting in a seat directly across from me.

A black man, in his 50's got on the bus, and sat down beside her. We continued our journey for a few blocks, and I could see the elderly woman eyeing this man out of the corner of her eye.

When her curiosity finally reached it's threshold, she looked directly into his eyes, and asked him, "What do you do?"

He answered her, "Ma'am, I don't do anything."

She responded, "So, you're just sitting around, 'waiting for it', huh?"
(By saying 'Waiting for it', she was implying that he was sitting around, doing nothing, and waiting to die.)

He looked a bit disturbed, and answered, "Ma'am, I'm not waiting for ANYTHING!"

She said, "Oh, I think you are! I am 83 years old, and I go to work every day. I volunteer at a homeless shelter, feeding the homeless. I think YOU can do something more useful with your time than just sitting around 'waiting for it'!"

A couple blocks later, the man got off the bus in somewhat of a huff and a flurry.

After his exit, I jumped up, stepped across the aisle, and gave this woman a huge hug!

I told her how much I loved her, and how inspiring she was!

I know this woman was sent to me from a Higher Power.

Without my saying a word about my condition(s) or my situation, she looked at me and said, "Oh, honey, I'm not talking about YOU!"
She looked at my right arm, and my right leg, and she continued:
"I can see that you have your share of challenges, too, but I can also see that you are going places, and you are doing things. You look VERY busy, and you are making good use of your time spent on this Earth. When judgment day comes, you can answer proudly because you didn't waste the time that was given to you. Pointing out the widow at the man that just got off the bus, she said, "That fella, uh.... his story will probably end differently!"

Angels do, indeed, come in all shapes and sizes.

I have never felt so proud of myself, laughed AND had a bad case of the chills at the same time!

- Michael