Monday Motivation: Could Your Action be the Last Good Deed You Do On Earth?

Monday Motivation, Monday Mood, Inspiration

A recent writing prompt from my friend Julie B. Hughes sparked a memory I wanted to share this holiday season. The prompt was, “When has the kindness of a stranger helped you out in a moment when you really needed it?”

My memory:

When I visited my boyfriend one winter weekend, I asked if I could borrow his car to drive home to my parent’s house for the day while he worked. As he handed me his keys he said, “Be careful, it is snowy outside and you are leaving early in the morning so the roads might be slippery.” Little did he know, the icy roads weren’t what I had to worry about.

Halfway home on a back road, the car started stalling. Luckily, I pulled it off the road where it completely died. At 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning, there weren’t cars going by and cell phones hadn’t been invented yet. I was a 21-year-old girl stranded in 30-degree weather. I knew home was too far to walk in such freezing conditions. My options were very limited.

About fifteen minutes later, a man in a pickup truck stopped behind my car. He asked if he could help and asked me where I was going. I told him, “Rome, where my family lives.” He said, “I’m going that way, I can drop you off.” With no other options in sight and a keen sense of feeling this man was okay, I accepted his offer. As I got in the cab of his truck, he moved a helmet over next to him telling me he was on his way to skydive.

As promised, this man dropped me off safely at my grandparents’ house, where my uncle, a doctor, aunt, and cousins lived. I told them my story. They were grateful I was safe and the man didn’t harm me. I knew in my gut he was okay or I wouldn’t have accepted his offer.

The following day, when I revisited my grandparents’ house, my cousin asked me with concern, “Did you say the man who dropped you off was going skydiving?” I replied, “Yes, why?” He said,
“Well, Dad told me this morning one of his patients died skydiving yesterday. It must have been the man who gave you a ride here.” I was shocked. I later thought I was that man’s last good deed on earth.

After finding out he was married, I asked my uncle for his address. I wrote a letter to his family telling them about the selfless act their husband and father did before he went skydiving. I felt they needed to know his act of kindness. I didn’t get a reply, not that I expected one, but to this day when I help someone else, I wonder, “Could this be my last good deed on earth?”  

I suggest you contemplate this question during this holiday period and if possible, every day of 2024.