It was a cold winter's night when I stopped by a station for gas one evening on
my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight headache.
I worked in a busy doctor's office and it seemed this was one of those days when
the unexpected happened, making the schedule run later than usual. I had just
taken some papers by the hospital for one of the doctors before I headed for
home after a long, tiring day.
It looked like I was going to be late getting home and my husband, being the
punctual person that he is, would be ready to rub it in, pronouncing me late
once again. I had been doing so well as a reformed procrastinator too. Well,
maybe if I hurried, I could still make it home at a decent time.
I was heading inside to pay for my gas when I noticed there was an older couple
at the counter. I overheard them asking directions to the local hospital across
town. It was the same hospital that I had just left a few minutes ago.
The young man at the counter was trying to be helpful in explaining how to get
there. "Just go down and cross the Westover Bridge, take a left at the stop
light then follow the road around, just stay on the main one, it curves a lot.
Let's see, you will go through two…no, three stoplights…"
"Billy, there are four stop lights," the other cashier interrupted him as she
tried to be helpful.
"Uh, er, yeah you're right," Billy said as he continued, "When you get to the
coliseum, you will turn right but it might be too dark out now to see the
coliseum. After you turn, you will go through …let's see…hmmm… three more lights
and then you'll go right at the the fourth light and then left at the next
light. What's the name of that road, Anne?"
"I don't remember," she said.
"It's Pineview Drive," I wanted to interrupt and let them know but I decided to
just listen in for a moment longer and see how this direction dialogue came out.
Billy went on with his directions, "As soon as you get on the road that I can't
remember the name of, watch for the hospital sign it goes to the right but it
winds around for awhile until you get there. There might be a couple of places
where the road splits off but just stay on the main one. You can't miss it.
"Oh yes you can, I thought to myself," as I heard their directions. How well I
remembered moving to West Virginia, where mountains, rivers, and only two
bridges into town made finding your way like wondering around in a maze. I had
carried a map with me for weeks, and I still got lost. If you add to that the
ever-present morning and evening fog that was often a problem, finding your way
could be a real nightmare.
Two other people who were in line began adding to the conversation as it came my
turn in line to pay for my gas.
"You'll see Krogers' on the right." I heard one of them say.
"Yes, you might want to stop there and get enough food to keep you from starving
while you hunt for the hospital." I thought to myself.
About this time, another person came inside who seemed to be their driver. He
had evidently been out pumping their gas. The couple began recounting the
directions to the driver, with two other people at the counter still making
comments about directions. One of them was even trying to give them a whole
different route back to the interstate to get off at a different exit.
It was then that something came over me and I just walked over to the couple and
said, "Would you like to follow me to the hospital?"
A look of great relief crossed the woman's face.
"Oh, could we?" She said, "Are you sure it's not too much trouble?"
"Oh, we don't want to put you out." The man said.
"We're from Ohio," the woman said quickly as if she was afraid that I might back
out of my offer, "We just got word that my brother had a heart attack and I
don't know how bad it is…and I hope it's not too late…." She stopped short in
her explanation as I could tell she was close to tears.
"I'm in the big green van, just follow me." I said as I began to feel a sense of
urgency.
"Are you sure it's not out of your way?" The man interrupted as they followed me
into the parking lot.
"Oh, no problem, I'm going right by there," I said, which wasn't a lie since I
had just made up my mind to do exactly that.
I got in my van and began the journey back through the labyrinth of curves,
stoplights, and turns. At the same time, I was trying to watch to be sure they
were right behind me. It took about fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour
traffic was beginning to subside. When I pulled into the hospital parking lot, I
rolled down my window and waved good-bye as I motioned toward where they could
park their car.
As I drove away, I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly
gone.
Later, as I arrived home, my husband met me at the door and grinned as he looked
at his wristwatch as if to say, "I told you so."
"So you aren't ever late anymore, huh," he teased.
I smiled and said, "Sometimes it's good to be late."
By Pamela R. Blaine February, 2003
pamyblaine@blaines.us
My husband and I live in Missouri. We have 4 children and 4 grandchildren. I
enjoy writing, music, and country living. I write "Pam's Corner" for the local
newspaper. We have recently made a new CD entitled "I'll Walk You Home." The
title song is about growing up with my childhood friend, Suzanne, who died with
cancer. If you would like one, they are available by freewill donation. More
information as well as a clip from the CD is on her webpage:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
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