Lending a Hand

Hello, On our walk to church this afternoon, I spotted a guy across the street in a wheelchair struggling with random hazards to forward motion. “Leroy, do you think we could help him?” Leroy went over and asked, “Where are you going?” “The library,” he replied. “You mean the downtown library?” I wondered. He said, “Yes.” Leroy than said, “We are going to First Lutheran and could push you that far.” This young man hesitated a little then said, “Yes I am getting tired and my hands are starting to hurt.” We visited on the way. He had googled the address for the library so knew where he was going. He was coming from a block farther away than we did and we are 1.6 miles from the library. We talked about him using the bus on his trip home. It stops right by the library and about a block from his home. He wondered, “Could I ride the bus?” “Yes, there are clips to hold the chair in place.” Leroy told him. “How would I get on the bus?” he then questioned. “The bus lowers,” I said. Leroy added, “And a ramp comes out.” At the church I asked, “Do you have water? I will look for some gloves for you to protect your hands.” He did not have water, so I got a bottle of water and with the help of someone else, looked for gloves. I had forgotten to check the size of his hands. We found a pair of leather work gloves that looked like some Leroy might have donated. We also gave him the granola bar we had brought for our snack. It felt good to be able to help some. We than cleaned the last two restrooms which was why we had come to church. We were both happy to be done, especially when more than one person commented that we looked tired. Paula