It was my pleasure, Sir.

A fellow called my office this morning to unlock a car, the key sitting on the front seat just out of reach. The car belonged to their care-giver; the woman attends his aging wife with Alzheimer’s disease.


I wrote down the address and phone number and drove to a nice patio home community, mostly retired folks enjoying their golden years. I didn’t see the vehicle at the listed address and figured it must be inside the closed garage so I knocked on the door and waited…and waited and waited; nothing. I called the number, same as the number which showed up in my call history; no answer after several tries. I left my card in the door and left.


I called the owner of the service station, the same folks who’d given my name as a referral on this particular job. Champions Service Center has been a fixture on FM 1960 since before recorded history; George and Jeannette have established a considerable loyal customer base, myself included. Jeannette answered the phone and I explained how things were not working out and my concern was for their customer and friend; would she double check the information against what I’d been given.


A few moments went by as she checked her accounts and sure enough the address given was off by just enough to make a difference; either it was my bad ears, dyslexia kicking in or the fellow gave me the wrong address. The reason he never answered the phone was because he was waiting for me outside and couldn’t hear the phone ringing; but he was glad to see my truck as I turned in behind his house.


I straight away fit a key to the door lock and retrieved the one that had been locked inside, all the while the fellow was talking non stop as if he’d been rescued from a desert island. I heard about his time in the Navy during WWII, his living in Yonkers after the war and so much more as he unloaded, as it were, on a total stranger.


It took me all this while to get to the point; he might as well have been stranded on a desert island as it became painfully clear that the love of his life, while alive and there physically, was no longer mentally there to be his companion, to share their golden years, recall wonderful times they’d spent together.


Alzheimer’s disease had stolen away his sweetheart and left him alone, a silent theft since her shell remained, a reminder of everything he loved and desired. I felt a lump in my throat as the idea hit home; this wonderful man was true and faithful and enduring to the end even with the reality of his wife not really being there.


He’s about my dad’s age, a WWII veteran having served aboard an air craft carrier. “If you’re ever in San Diego you can take a tour of it”, he proudly remembered the time he spent with his shipmates.

I learned about his life in the oil business, his trips all over the world, down the Amazon where he did some trouble-shooting at a refinery. “I thought I’d have been the first to visit that place; but it turned out two fellows from DuPont had been there the day before; go figure.” He spoke to me as if we’d known each other for years, catching up on old friends as the opportunity presented itself.


I didn’t have any jobs lined up as yet for the rest of the morning; spending time with this fellow meant so much to him that it was a pleasure to listen, his eyes showing a sparkle that gave away his need to have conversation. He paid in cash as I wrote him a receipt; I never counted the bills and tucked them into my pocket.


“I want to include a tip”, he said reaching into his freezer and handing me a box of fancy steaks, boxed with serial numbers on the side. “I’ll be telling anyone who needs a locksmith about you; thanks for coming out to help.”


Shaking his hand in parting and taking in all that had been presented, “It was my pleasure, Sir”. Some jobs are better than others, this one lifted my spirits higher than most, a chance to be of service just by listening when listening was what was needed most.


This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.