Mar
28
Saturday, March 28, 2015

A stranger’s kindness

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“Do you work at St. Jude?”

I was standing in line at the Sam’s Club snack bar today, getting ready to order lunch for my family. The man behind me in line — tall, with long gray hair and a gray mustache — saw my St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital jacket.

“No, I have a son who’s a patient there,” I replied.

The man’s name was Bill. We struck up a brief conversation about Danny Thomas, his vision for St. Jude and the amazing place it is. I then placed my order. Two pretzel combos. A pizza combo. A frozen yogurt. Two extra drinks.

“Add a hot dog combo to that,” Bill told the server. “And all that is on me.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I replied.

“Now, you’ve got enough to worry about without having to pay for your lunch,” Bill said. “I’m happy to do it.”

I brought Noah over to meet Bill, a retired fireman who lives in Medina, Tennessee. I told him a bit about Noah’s treatment regimen and the positive prognosis for his long-term health. I thanked him again for his kindness.

And I left feeling incredibly blessed by the generosity of a stranger.

Categories : Family, Leukemia, Noah

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