Somehow

We know that every day heroes come in all ages, race, religion, social class, country of origin and gender. They appear momentarily or over extended periods of time. Some appear accidentally by circumstance, some intentionally by profession. Some we never acknowledge until an event has brought out the best in them, often after they help us in an emergency. This story describes an “everyday hero” event that happened by chance between two people who had previously reached out to each other in an ordinary way. Maybe you know individuals in your lives whom you see every day –an attendant at a gas station, a clerk at the post office, a staff member in your local library – and who may somehow become your everyday hero. Or, better yet, you may become that “somehow” everyday hero to one of them.

Somehow

At age 84, Virginia knew she was resilient, despite two hip replacements, a shoulder replacement and bifocals at a 4.5 magnification level. Since retiring 20 years before, she felt her body and mind were still somewhat, if not pretty much, functional and reliable. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t aware of her absentmindedness, hesitancy to move quickly, and fear to kneel down knowing she might not be able to get up without calling 911.

All in all, however, she knew she had a good life. She went to church every Sunday, volunteered twice a week at the local Food Pantry, and wrote campaign letters for individuals whom she believed needed a bit of nudging. She was super social, playing Scrabble and Mahjong at the Senior Center and singing in a local, choral group.

Her self-esteem was pretty high until one day in the grocery store. She had ordered several things from the meat counter, gotten her deli fix for lunch, and purchased Godiva chocolates for the Wednesday gals with whom she played Mahjong. She was going down the aisle of dog and cat products, looking at the various items for her loving companions …if you can ever call a cat a companion. Beauty, whom Virginia had found on her back deck four years ago, loved Frisky tuna fish. Foxy, a pit bull, loved Iam’s Proactive. During a fundraiser five years before at the Centerville ASPC, Virginia had chosen Foxy among many strays. Or had Foxy actually chosen Virginia?

As Virginia stretched up to capture a set of cans for Beauty, she realized that she was a little off-balance. She paused, pulled her arm back off the shelf and said to herself ‘It’s nothing. I’m just a little wheezy, maybe I should’ve had more coffee this morning.’ After getting Foxy’s Proactive bag on a middle shelf, she proceeded down the aisle to the coffee section. ‘I think I’ll get some caffeinated, rather than decaf. When I get home, I’ll make sure that I have a cup of that energizer.’ She leaned down to the bottom shelf with the cheapest makes. Even though she was retired and had a pretty good Social Security and Medicare benefits package, she still watched her pennies. It was probably her Irish upbringing – frugal, definitely frugal.

Reaching toward the 12 oz. bag of Hazelnut ground, she again felt dizzy. ‘That’s not good,’ she said to herself. She stood up, held onto her shopping cart and counted to 10. She felt better. Finally, when she got into the customer service aisle and had placed her items on the revolving belt, she looked up and saw her favorite, staff member Jean. “How are you doing, Jean?” Virginia asked.

Jean smiled. She was about 40 years younger than Virginia and loved this older woman. Unlike most customers, the first thing Virginia ever said to Jean each time she went through the counter was “How are you doing?” Jean would always tell her the truth. “Not so good. Same old. Same old.“ Often Virginia would respond “Well, since there aren’t too many people behind me, what’s up?” Jean would share what was going on in her family. The two would then exchange the wit and wisdom of personal insights. Both would leave each other feeling great. They had been listened to.

Today, however, Jean cut the initial exchange short, saying, “Virginia, you don’t look very good.” Virginia smiled. “Oh, I think I’m just a little off.” Jean closed her cash register drawer and looked directly at Virginia. “Have you been to the clinic recently? You know I saw you there two weeks ago. I have to tell you this, but I overheard the doctor saying to you and his receptionist that you needed to get an MRI. Did you schedule it with her?”

While Virginia appreciated Jean’s concern, she was also a tad miffed that people were overhearing her at the clinic After all, she was a very private person. Having been a teacher for 32 years, she knew that if any students or other teachers talked about her after school, it would be all over the community. Thus, she rarely talked about her personal life to anybody. She looked at Jean and said “Thank you for asking.” She hesitated to say more, but then decided ‘What the heck.’ “No, I haven’t called about it yet.

Jean frowned “Ms. Virginia. Let me tell you a little story.” And Jean proceeded to tell about her own grandmother who also had a balance problem, but had never taken care of it. Virginia knew what the ending of that story would be. Quickly, she shared, “No, that’s OK, Jean. I’m all right.” As she turned to put her bag of groceries into her cart, she realized that she was again dizzy. Sure enough, she fell back onto the floor next to the counter. Jean raced around her station and into its aisle calling “Ms. Virginia. Ms. Virginia.” Soon, there was a whole crew of people around Virginia – Jean, the manager of the store, and within five minutes EMTs from the local firehouse. Virginia was taken to the hospital with Jean in the ambulance holding her hand.

Virginia had her MRI. It was found that, indeed, she needed it. She became a weekly patient in the cancer treatment center attached to the hospital. Often times she was alone, but most of the time, Jean would drive her there and back home. Jean would then feed Beauty and take Foxy for a walk. The humble, non-intrusive but caring worker at the grocery store was with Virginia at her last treatment. Fortunately, it was the last because the cancer had gone into remission.

Virginia was soon back into her normal routine of playing Scrabble and Mahjong, singing in the choral group, and volunteering. Every time she went to the grocery store from then on and Jean was working, Virginia made sure to go into Jean‘s aisle. Somehow, she would say to the person behind her in line and to anybody else who would listen “Do you realize how wonderful this person Jean is? She is my hero.”