Mr. Ben
Recent weeks for me have been a confluence of variations of mortality. I celebrated an immortal and risen Christ with my family led by the sermon of my brother in law Josh. It was inspiring. Flowering shrubs and trees have waited patiently for their chance to usher in spring. Patches of green grass can be seen. Nature’s reminder that winter doesn’t last forever. I also felt the pain of mortal man with the loss of some truly wonderful people. One a lifetime educator who saw good in all, the other a selfless mother of five. Empty. Bleak. Dark.
I felt like I could both curl up in a ball and run without tiring at the same time. Like I knew that life was but minute long and also that I had the opportunity to “suck the marrow” out of the day. Inspiration in such circumstances can be hard to find. And sometimes it literally walks by your window. Such was the case when I finally met Mr. Ben Law.
Mr. Ben patrols the street in front of our office daily. Rain or shine. He picks up litter, prunes trees, and pulls weeds. For free. He champions no cause that I’m aware of. He was asked by none to perform his job. He simply saw an opportunity to make the world a better place and acted…..alone. He seems oblivious to the cars passing by just feet from him. I have seen him for years now and never had, or took, the chance to visit with him. I feel very fortunate that I finally did and got to say thank you sir you are an inspiration! Oh by the way, Mr. Ben is 83 years young. I hope he does come in out of the cold one day to take me up on that cup of coffee.
There have been tighter hugs in my house and I have told people “thank you” and “I love you” a bit more. I have listened to my trainer friend more closely when he says “we get to do this today”. We don’t really know much here on earth. And furthermore we don’t get a lot of answers. We might be 83 and find a new purpose, or leave loved ones far too early. In either case, this day I’m going to truly live.
Dr. Y
