HAYDEN HOLLINGSWORTH: Paying It Forward

Hayden Hollingsworth
Hayden Hollingsworth

Last December a family with whom I am acquainted was in the midst of a terribly difficult time.  Their daughter was entering the final stages of a multi-year struggle with cancer.  It was obvious that the courage with which the situation had been faced was going to be called upon even more as the end drew near.  No one was surprised when the call came that the final vigil was commencing.

They made the emergency drive to the hospice in which her final days would be spent.  On arrival they found that she had slipped into a near-comatose state, but she still knew that the family had gathered.  She could respond to yes or no questions by wiggling a big toe.

Her favorite hymns were played on the ever-present smart phones, meals for the family were delivered and in a day no response was evoked but she appeared peaceful.  The family took turns holding her hands and talking with her in case she could still hear. When the end came after four days of silence, she began to sigh in a musical way; she smiled and passed to a place beyond human understanding.

By consensus the family had decided to have a memorial service after the holidays so the caravan reassembled for the hundreds of mile trek to their homes.

Traffic was heavy, everyone was emotionally exhausted, and the joy of the impending Christmas season seemed inexpressibly remote.  But the needs of the travelers (which included a dog) had to be met, so enterprising teenagers activated their smart phones and a Chick-fil-A was located in the wilds of an unfamiliar state.

Unfortunately, it was situated in the center of a monster mall and this being the last Saturday before Christmas about a thousand cars were trying to get in the single lane of entry. The target restaurant was in sight, but it took nearly an hour to reach it; no escape from the line was possible.

The crowd inside the establishment moved at a snail’s pace and when the family’s order was placed, the dad handed his credit card to the cashier and she immediately passed it back to him.  She said to the family, “A guy came in here this morning, bought a hundred dollar gift card and gave it to me.  He told me to spend it on somebody that looked like they needed it.  I choose your family.”

A lot of sadness withdrew to the side as they took their meals to a table that had magically been vacated.  Not much was said, but everyone remembered that was just the kind of act that their now-absent family member would have done.

The story was told of how she and her husband had placed a worn out sofa on the sidewalk to be picked up, only to find a homeless man asleep on it later in the evening. Told that he couldn’t sleep on the sofa, he was taken into their guest bedroom for the night.  The last words she spoke before the house lights were turned out were, “Just so you know, there’s a homeless man in the guest room tonight.”

The family wanted to know the name of the gentleman who had thought to pay it forward but, of course, they could not be told.  So this Christmas, the dad confided that he plans to do the same pay it forward every 19th of December until re-united with the his daughter.

He did mention that he had one problem: he doesn’t own a smart phone but assured me he can find a Chick-Fil-A.

It wouldn’t be a bad thing if that idea caught on; you never know what it might mean to a sad family caught in deep darkness.

Hayden Hollingsworth

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