Tuesday, June 27, 2000

Girl's act of kindness rewarded

Madison

AA short letter given to a receptionist at the Caller-Times two weeks ago eventually landed on my desk.
   The author, the receptionist recalled, had identified himself as a homeless man. He was waiting to catch a bus out of town, the man had explained, but had seen the newspaper building a few blocks from the bus station.
   So, he decided to take a few minutes to drop by, pen a spur-of-the-moment thank you note and entrusted it to the newspaper, confident that somehow, someone in the newsroom would see to it that it got to the proper hands.
   Several phone calls proved dead ends. But finally one turned up someone who knew the intended recipient. And that eventually led to 11-year-old Madison Laird.
   Generous thought
   Madison recently arrived in the Coastal Bend to visit her grandmother, Wanda Laird of Mathis, for a few days during her summer school break. During this visit, both came to Corpus Christi for a day of mall shopping. On the way to lunch, they came upon an individual holding up a sign by the side of the road. The sign pleaded for food or anything else that would help him in his hour of need.
   "All he had was a rugged old backpack," Madison recalled. "His face was sunburned and he looked so weak."
   Madison, who lives in a small town near Houston, turned to her grandmother and asked if they could buy him some lunch. "That would be nice," her grandmother replied.
   After lunching at a deli, the two, with food in hand, returned to the corner where they had seen him, but had to drive ahead a few blocks to finally find him. From the car window they handed him a soft drink and a lunch bag containing a deli sandwich, chips and three cookies.
   Madison had also stuck $3 of saved-up birthday money in the bag along with a note she'd written on a deli napkin: "Dear Man, my name is Madison Laird and I am 11 years old. When I saw you on the road I felt very bad. Me and my gramma decided to buy you some food at this deli. Hope you enjoy it."
   Wish to give more
   Had she had with her the $103.11 she has saved up this year from baby-sitting and other chores, Madison said, "I would have given him more, but I didn't bring all my money with me."
   Madison, however, knew that what she'd given was plenty.
   "He just stood there and smiled, with tears in his eyes," Madison said. "You see a lot of people on the road who need help. But this guy, I don't know. There was something about him that made me do all I could for him. He could be someone's dad or grandpa."
   In return, Madison got a thank you she never expected, words that made her misty-eyed.
   "God sent an angel threw (sic) you, to touch my heart," the letter, in part, read, "an (sic) you must be an angel for what you (sic) done. Thank you!"
  
  
 

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