My first phone call of the work day was from our patient Betsy. She explained her elderly neighbor, Ms. Josie, had broken her glasses and could not remember where she bought them to have them repaired. She told me she had recommended Ms. Josie come see us, as we are near her home, but Ms. Josie suffers from dementia and may or may not actually make it over. Regardless, she wanted to give me a heads up should Ms. Josie arrive and not be able to articulate the help she needed.

I didn’t think much of it.. until a few hours later when this precious little thing walks in with her care taker. Ms. Josie introduced herself, laid out three pairs of glasses on my counter, and began to explain..

“One has a hole in it [the lens had popped out] and the other two.. well one might be the same and one is different and I want to keep the same ones together.”

I glanced at Ms. Josie’s care taker to see if she understood what Ms. Josie was asking of me, she quickly shook her head. I repeated back what I heard..

“I’m going to put the lens back in this frame.. and… you need the prescriptions off the other two?..to see which one is the most recent prescription..?”

“Sure”

No problem. I replaced the lens and neutralized each pair. She was correct– two had similar prescriptions, one was vastly different and looked like it had been around longer than the other two. I made sure she knew the “good” prescriptions from the “bad” and tell her she’s all set. She took out her pocket book and asked what she owed me..

“You don’t owe us a thing- it was an easy fix and you had all the pieces.”

“Well bless your heart, I can’t just not pay you.”

I reiterate that it was no trouble at all and it was my pleasure it get her fixed up. She blessed my heart about six more times and hugged me. I’m on the verge of tears. Helping that sweet thing put such a smile on my face. My Grandma Mabel is in a similar season of life and I would want someone to be patient and kind with her.

I called Betsy to let her know we got Ms. Josie squared away and also what a blessing it was to witness her kindness and compassion toward her neighbor. She told me Ms. Josie doesn’t have any children and she considers it a privilege to look out for her.

“She is as sweet as they come, she’s a dear friend and wonderful neighbor.”

Later that afternoon I see Ms. Josie and her care taker walking toward our office. My first thought was – oh crap, the lens popped back out.. And then I see Ms. Josie carrying a bouquet of flowers. They come in and she handed me the flowers, telling me how sweet I am and she couldn’t NOT doing anything. Y’all. I lost it. I start crying and tell her how sweet SHE is and how she made my whole day and it’s just a giant love fest of how great everyone is.

God’s favor was all over this, y’all.. the phone call preparing me for what could have been a challenging situation, the sweetness of an old lady when I so dearly miss my grandma, the happiness that comes when I can serve others. I’m still beaming from the whole experience.

Be sweet to each other. If for no other reason than because you can.