- Feb 6, 2005
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I found this story in the ro-maniacs yahoo group and thought you would love it.
I was waiting in the car while my better half,
my wife, went inside to do some government
business (which can take hours). Sitting there,
I noticed a little old lady dressed in old clothes
standing by a bakery. She was holding her hand
out, eyes towards the ground, waiting for someone
to drop some coins into her hand. This is common
here because the government elderly pensions are
about 150euro a month, and some elderly need help
affording normal living expenses (God bless them).
It took about 30 minutes for her to have received
enough money for what she needed, because she slipped
inside the bakery, and came out with a bag with 2
loaves of fresh bread. (That is the common bread
here costing about .35 cents USD a loaf and so
delicious too). She then headed for the street crossing
in a careful way, with her little feet just a shuffling
away.
While I watched her, I noticed a man, sitting on the
curb of the street about 30 meters from the street crossing
she was headed for. It was man was in his late 30's, who
had a nervous disorder because his head kept twitching
towards the sky over and over again. His clothes were old
and dirty. His feet were without socks tucked into his
larger then needed shoes. He was unshaven, and had not
bathed in a while (people with bad disabilities also have
it tuff here). I looked back at the little old lady, I saw
she was now observing this same man.
Well, the next thing you know, this little old lady started
to shuffle over to this man. When she got up to him, she
patted him on the back and made the sign of the cross
across her chest (the religious symbol) without saying a
word. The man looked up at her while she reached into her
bag and gave him a loaf of bread. This was one of the two
loaves this woman had to beg for the money to buy for the
past 30 minutes! She just gave up without a second thought!
She then turned and shuffled back to the street crossing, disappeared into the city while this man ate the bread like
he had not eaten for ages.
A tear came over me, to see that even a old woman, whose
life seemed so hard, saw it in herself to help a fellow
human being, just like others who helped her. She needed no explanations, no verbal thank you, no proof of need. She
just saw a man she did not know, who was hurting, and her
heart did the rest.
This is why I love Romania. It is the people here. I am not
saying all Romanians do things like this, but I have seen
more personal compassion here in Romania for their fellow
human beings then most places. To see a person give to
another what they can, when you know they are doing with a
little less in their own lives, makes you believe in people
again. I would be proud to be a Romanian. I truly believe
the people of this country are connected. They seem to
share the same loving, beating heart! Never loose this,
Romania. Always feel that heart beat together! Also
"Multumesc" (Thank you in Romanian) to all Romanians for
allowing me to be here in your country to share this
feeling. God bless you all.
