Wheels and Wings

We were headed down to get some groceries for dinner. Ruby and Sadie had just had their nails done - pink and purple respectively - and Marissa was fresh from her visit to the hair salon. Joe and I, well we scrubbed up but definitely were 'Miss Geniality' and 'Miss Showed Up' in the pageant. On the corner, a few blocks north of the grocery store, were two young men. One of the them was riding a stationary bike the other was holding a sign. The sign told us that they were raising money for services to people with AIDS by pedalling the distance from Toronto to LA.

I noticed them notice us, it was hard not to, two kids, a big guy in a wheelchair a young woman and an old dude make up the kind of group that isn't often, sadly, seen. On our way down to the store I decided that I'd like to take the opportunity to give a bit of money and give Ruby and Sadie the opportunity to participate in giving. Both girls are tremendously generous girls and they eagerly give of their time. When I need help with the footrest of my wheelchair, either girl will willingly, with never a complaint, get up and come and help. When Joe and I need things carried from the kitchen to the front room - we have willing hands to help.

So on our way back Joe had managed to get the clerk at the store to make sure that we had two five dollar bills in our change. I carried the bills with me up the street. I spoke to both girls, one at a time, about the fact that we were going to give some money to help people who needed help. A couple questions were asked, a couple of answers were given, and by that time we'd arrived back at the corner where the two young men stood.

It's a busy corner so we had to move off to the side and each girl had their five dollar bill clutched in their hands. I told them that they could ask the young men what the money was for if they wanted to. As their money went into the bucket, one of the fellows explained what they were doing and why they were doing it. The other offered the girls the opportunity to ring the bell on the bicycle - which they did ten times, one for each dollar.

I saw the looks on the girls faces when they dropped the money into the container. Each of them looked very serious, understanding, both of them, that what they were doing was giving to someone else, helping someone else, caring for someone else. The looked, for all the world, like they were fulfilling a responsibility that somehow they knew they had.
The first time the bell rang Marissa said to the girls, 'An angel just got wings!' Then rings later, I think a dozen wings had been given out.