The Gift - a Story

Once upon a time there was a small boy age eight.  His mother lay dying at home and he was sent out to get her some medicine and a few vegetables for vegetable soup.  At the local market he found he was short on money and attempted to run away with the stolen goods.

The shop owner caught him and demanded payment, creating a ruckus right in the middle of the market.

A shop owner across the way heard the noise and came out to investigate.  After hearing the story, he pulled out the money owed from his pocket, paid the other shop owner and let the young boy go free.

Time passed – thirty years later.

A man is lying in a hospital bed with an IV in one arm, and a respirator around his face and nose.  His daughter is sitting quietly by his bedside. 

The heart monitor is beeping quietly, and she lowers her head in grief and sadness.

In the next scene, we see the daughter at home sitting at the kitchen table.  She has two pieces of paper in her hand and as we get a closer look we see that it is her father’s hospital bill.  And the amount on the last page is a staggering sum of over $792,000.

She allows the papers to slip from her hands and we hear her sob softly. 

Next day, she is sitting by her father’s bedside in the hospital.  She put her head down for a brief rest.  When she awakened, there was a white envelop lying next to her arm.  She opened it and it was a hospital bill just like the one she was looking at the night before.

And as she looked at the last page, she saw in amazement that the sum now owed was $0.00 and there was a note scrawled across the bottom.

“All expenses paid thirty years ago

with three packs of painkiller

and a bag of vegetable soup. 

Best Regards.” 

Dr. Prajak Arunthong

I think you see what happened, but in case – the doctor was the little boy who was trying to get pain medicine and vegetable soup for his mother.  The patient was the second shop keeper who paid his bill and sent him on his way.

Never underestimate the power of an act of kindness done for another human being.

I love what Dr. Seuss says in Horton Hears a Who!

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

We never know how one small act of grace will turn into redemption at another time and in another place.

If you wish to watch the full video click here.

A Heartwarming Story of Kindness

  

P Michael Biggs

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