Who saved you?
Dear friend,
If someone
in the past
saved you
from drowning
would you
remember them?
Of course
you would.
You would
also remember
if you were saved
by finding the Lord
or by discovering
or rediscovering
the love
of your life.
Or if you were saved
by someone
who led you
one day
straight to your life’s
true purpose.
Yes, I am sure
you would remember
the creators
of all those deliverances.
But if you
have been saved
in some other
less dramatic fashion
as we all
have been saved
many times
I bet
you remember
only a few
of the persons
who conducted
those quiet rescues.
Same here.
Our memory has priorities
Alas
most of us
have a short memory
for redemption
and a long memory
for rejection.
Collecting injustices
is a priority.
We remember
every clown
who hurt us
but forget
the souls
who saved us.
So let’s ask
Who saved me?
Who have I forgotten?
Who did I never thank?
I have a long list
This is hard
to face.
It makes me sad
to see
how oblivious
I have been
to many generous acts
of others.
And to realize
that many
of the people
who saved me
through the years
have already died.
It is too late
to thank them.
One man
I do remember well
one very dear man.
He’s gone now.
But every morning
I put my hand
on my Bible
and say aloud
“Thank you Bill
for bringing
me and Truth (my cat)
in from the cold
when we were homeless.”
I saw him one day
in a grocery store
about twelve years ago.
He was in a wheelchair
and couldn’t reach
the higher shelves.
I went over
and offered
to reach them for him.
After we shopped together
we talked a while.
He offered
to let me and my cat
who was dying
live in a room
of his apartment
that winter.
He would wheel
his chair
through the snow
to bring home
to Truth
a little can
of liver pate.
His generosity
and tender care
still bring me
to tears
even as I type
these words.
They say a person
lives on
until the last time
their name
is spoken aloud.
So at least
as I say
Bill Fletcher’s name
every morning
one of the beautiful souls
who saved me
has his immortality.
Over to you
Is there
a person
who saved you?
Do you remember
that dear soul
today?
Do you recall
the deliverance
they brought
to your life?
Someone
whose name
you can
say aloud
right now
to thank them
and keep them alive?
All of us here
I have
over four hundred
of you friends
here with me now
on Solutions.
You save me
every Friday!
You come here
to read my letter.
You reach out
and connect with me.
You encourage me.
Each one of you
is a wonderful blessing
in my life.
Thank you
so much.
And all of us
here together
would be blessed
to hear
the name
of the person
who saved you.
We would
love to hear
what that person
means to you
and to your life
this very day
if you would care
to share it.
Who saved me?
I survived nine years of chronic drug addiction by my wife and son, followed by their deaths six months apart in 2020. Know who saved me? Myself.
In the end, you're all alone in this world. You decide whether to give up and give in to bitterness and self-pity, or make the best of life in the aftermath. I decided the latter, and it has made all the difference.
The man's name was Bob.
We were long-time skilled trades co-workers in a large GM manufacturing plant and best friends for a number of years about a half a lifetime ago. Bob was a blue-collar working-class guy all the way to the bone, the same as I was - and still am, though I haven't punched a timeclock for a while now. He was a little bit rough at the edges and had some hard bark on him, but he was a genuinely good and decent man who lived by the Golden Rule, treating others as he wished to be treated and giving as good as he got in the way of respect.
Long story short, through a combination of bad luck and bad judgement, I hit a stretch in my life that I was seriously struggling financially, and I probably wasn't going to get out of it whole without help of some kind.
Bob had started his own business outside of the full-time job he already had. He knew of my problems. He didn't offer me money per se; he had his own financial struggles in starting up a small business. But he offered me paid work in his business, which he could have done himself and saved the money he paid me if he'd really wanted or needed to, I'm sure.
Did he save my life? No. But he sure as hell helped save my dignity, because we were both proud working men, and he fully understood that asking for help or "charity" would be anathema to me every bit as much as it would have been for him, had he found himself in the same sort of circumstances.
We went our separate ways quite a few years ago, as friends sometimes do as their individual lives change, though we saw each other from time to time. He's been dead for some years now, having passed away quite unexpectedly from a sudden and rare health disorder. And the world would be a hell of a lot better place if there were more men like him in it to take his place.