Small Town

I never really feel like I live in a small town. Occasionally you might run into a friend, a neighbor, the mom of the kid on the baseball team... People are so busy and always on the go. I rarely have the It's a Wonderful Life kind of small town feel... Tonight was an exception.

When I walked out of the grocery, I saw a lady lying in the road, right in front of the store. She was on her back in obvious pain. Her buggy and purse were next to her, and another woman was kneeling down next to her. I dropped my purse and bag, and went around to the other side of the woman. It was bitter cold, so I took my coat off (I had two on...) and covered her. The teenager who had been helping her had put his coat over her as well, and had gone inside to get help. After a moment of figuring out what had happened, I realized the other lady lives a couple of houses up the street. Angela is her name. She was on her cell phone trying to get in touch with the woman's husband. Within a moment, I looked around and realized - hey! There's Betty Jo from church who gave her scarf to help keep the woman's head warm. (It was determined that the woman had tripped over the curb and hit her head pretty hard on the pavement, and so we made her stay there until help came). And there's Coach Mario from baseball! He was on the phone making sure to call 911, when we weren't sure the call had been made inside. A man I didn't know had kneeled down next to me. He reached out to hold the lady's hand. When I looked again, I believe he was praying silently for her. Then, he was gone, without a word. I looked over. Another man had taken on the task of directing traffic in front of the store. I remember hearing him shout something to the effect of "come on! come on! dont' **** with me!" The language seemed a little unnecessary I thought, but afterwards, I was thankful he had taken on that task. He kept people moving and kept anyone else from getting hurt. Without him, the fire truck and ambulance would not have been able to get through.

Just seemed reassuring at the time, during this 10 - 15 minutes of bizarreness, that the Flower plex isn't as hustle bustle and impersonal as it can seem. Just what I needed this Christmas.