Sharp-eyed Samaritan rolls two good deeds into one

Iwas surprised to see Pete at the bus stop when I know he drives. He patted a woman’s arm and waved to her as she boarded the bus. Another man was standing right next to them – but he wandered off. Later, Pete explained he’d seen the man, apparently an addict, eyeing the woman’s handbag so, despite not knowing either of them, he got between them, and chatted until the bus arrived.

“You put yourself between the wolf and the The food in the Community Café is good, basic fare. Toasties, baked potatoes, bread rolls, sliced sausage, and so on. There’s a donation box for those who have a few pence to spare, but a lot of hungry people get fed there each week.

If I’m around, I’ll sit and chat, just to make people feel a little more welcome. But, this one man – who looked like he might have been sleeping rough – was too focused on his bowl of soup to respond to my initial efforts.

“Is it nice?” I asked.

He looked up, but past me, to the ceiling. Carefully, like he was trying hard not to be swept away by the emotion, he said, “It’s like my gran used to make.”

I let him get back to his meal.

I couldn’t help but feel that soup was nourishing more than just his body. lamb,” I suggested. “Depends who you think the wolf is,” he replied.

“I think the wolf was the addiction. It was calling the shots, not the man. I may have saved her from a trauma but, hopefully, I also saved him from doing a despicable thing.” I don’t know of many who would have sympathy for the lamb and the wolf, and I’m amazed at what can be achieved by a sharp eye, a good heart, and a little bus-stop chatter. John and Nicola worked hard for their dream house.

They bought a cheap fixer-upper and furnished it with second-hand furniture. They fixed it up, and raised two babies, while they both worked other jobs.

Two days ago, they closed the deal on their “forever home”.

Walking through the empty rooms, Nicola told her mum, “It doesn’t feel like ours.” Mum said it would when they got their furniture in.

“But, we’re buying new furniture for the first time,” said Nicola, “so that won’t work.”

Sensing a little trepidation, mum said, “When your family move in. That’s when it will feel like home.” That brought a smile and some peace of mind.

And she was right. New home or old home. New furnishings or old. It’s the family that make a home! Sarah has a patient who is part of a veterans’ group.

There are only a few of them and they meet for lunch once a month.

When she mentioned her son was in the Army she thought he might not be impressed.

His four years might seem like nothing for these older men.

“Tell him to come visit us, next time,” the old soldier said. “As soon as he joined up, as soon as he put his life on the line, he earned a place at our table and he deserves all of our respect.” Sarah was just thinking how nice it would be if everyone thought like that, when the old soldier added, “We have plenty of empty places.” God bless those who once filled those places in the defence of their country. And God bless those who stand there now.