You thought no one was there to watch you as you left the hospital that night. What a foolish thought; every action bears a consequence and each is monitored in turn, even when you think you are alone. Even now you are ignorantly blissful as you go about your life. But even if it takes a lifetime to build, the flood of your actions will one day burst upon you and carry you away.
You told your children you would be home soon and not to worry; you were off to see a friend in the confines of illness. But looking down at the figure in bed you gave something more than comfort. How often did your offspring wonder at your true purpose as they lay alone in the night of your many absences? As they grew, they, too became what you were, following your hidden path.
You assured your friends that what you had to do was better done alone, and you would only be gone an hour or two. How many times did you lead them on, convinced that what you did was nothing of note? They became accustomed to your habits and let you have your way.
Strangers on the street hardly noticed as you passed, so good were you at your secret acts. How often did you pass unobserved under the very nose of authority to go about your work? If they knew your purpose and your heart’s desire, they would have watched your every move.
While others pursued fame and fortune, and amassed great wealth and following with their talents, you chose to use those same talents in hidden corners where the public eye rarely follows. Did the great figures of your time even realize that on the ragged edges of society you gathered more power and prestige than they would ever hold?
All of your life you moved, quietly passing through the cold, dark, and hungry places of the world with such care that none recognized what you truly did. But even when no eyes could see, your service in shadow was still recorded. And now your time has come.
In a crash of breaking glass and twisted metal, you meet your end. Sirens blare and flashing lights blind those who stand by as your lifeless form is wheeled away to the hospital you so often visited.
It is time for the record of your deeds to be read for all to hear. Some of that record is reserved for a faraway place no human ear attends, but much is read to the multitude of people gathered on the green grass in the warm summer sun. Birds sing and flowers are placed over what you once were as accounts of your exploits are spoken aloud; many for the first time. What you were will never disappear, because of what you gave while you were here. In all your secret acts of kindness you gave pieces of yourself that live on in those you left behind, and there is no better legacy than a life spent helping others. Yours is the life that grows larger and better after you leave it to those you cared for.
And all the world ever saw of you was the brief headline in the local paper, “Old man crushed saving girl from freak accident”.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 04.02.2012

Alle Rechte vorbehalten