A short story by Ann Marie Grumm, 2014
To help the clean up, I take home all the recyclables from Lorianne's Hangar 18 parties. I separate all the tin, glass and plastic. I store the deposit items in the shed. One sunny day, I put three white kitchen garbage bags filled with cans and bottles into the trunk of the car and drove around with them for at least a week. On the way home from grandma's doctor's office, we saw a man walking along the shoulder of Union Boulevard. He was pushing a shopping cart loaded with black garbage bags. Up ahead of him, I pulled over and asked grandma's permission to do what I was about to do. I wasn't sure if she really understood, but she was acquiescent.
I waited for him to reach the spot in which we were blocking his path. He was a gray haired man and I felt it was important that I let him know immediately, I meant no harm. I approached him with a big smile. After a quick agreement, I retrieved my white bags and rearranged the big black bags to place the white bags neatly into and onto his cart. He was thankful.
Returning to the vehicle, I thought how surprising it was that grandma would allow me to pull over on such a main road, open my door, and walk along the shoulder like that !!! Thus, when I got back in the car I thanked her richly. Grandma expressed how she thought that was "nice of me." I said, "I get those things from you." I told her, whenever anyone compliments me for doing nice things like that, I always say, "I get it from my mother"
Life can be good sometimes
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