Don’t Touch Me!

Oh my goodness, what a hoot! Today in the clothes closet a lady brought 2 clients in from a Sr. Adult living complex near our church. The clients were on up in age and one was a blind man who was probably in his 80’s and one was an older, ornery woman with braided pig tails and a face covered in makeup that was too light for her skin, and bright red lipstick. I bet she was in her 80’s too, but don’t tell her I told that!

She was a sight. 

She came in just a fussin’ about this and that. I had a feeling we were in for it!

As we found their names and said they were ready to shop the old lady looked at the man and said in a loud and sassy voice, “You just sit there until we are done!”

Bless his little heart!! I didn’t want him to just sit there and not receive anything, but I decided to watch just to see what happened. The lady that brought them looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, “They are ALWAYS like this!”

I turned my head to laugh.

She took the man to the men’s racks and helped him find things that would fit him. When she returned with his things she sat him in a chair and asked if the was ok. He said he was fine so she went to shop for herself. In a few minutes the older, ornery lady came to the front with her items and went to sit in a chair near him. He reached out and touched her on the arm, and she turned and HIT HIM!!! “Leave me alone!” she said.

It was more than I could take!

“Don’t hit him!” I said. “He needs you to love him!”

And then she started… “Well, he’s touching me all the time! I don’t want him to touch me! And besides, I DO take care of him. He’ s my neighbor and his kids don’t take care of him. He’s blind and he can’t cook! I cook! I take care of him and I just do NOT want him touching me!!”

Honey, hush. It was like 2 little kids in the backseat of the car on a long road trip to grandmas. Except this WAS grandma.

Come to find out the man really did have a sad situation. His daughter is using his fixed income for who knows what. She takes his food and doesn’t pay his bills on time. The lady that cared for them filled me in and we were able to give him some things to meet some bigger needs. He was just precious and we wanted to do all that we could to help love him and show him the love of Christ.

While the situation ended up being a sad one the funny part was that the old, ornery lady really WAS loving him. That hit she delivered was a love pat. He was probably showing her his love and appreciation by touching her because his language seemed limited.

When they left the building we helped carry the bags to the car and the old, ornery lady helped him get to the car. She told him when to step down and how to duck to get his head into the backseat. She led him by the hand and helped make sure that he was ok, and then helped get his things into the car. 

Funny how we love sometimes, isn’t it? Sometimes we have to look past someone’s actions and see their heart. The next time that old, ornery lady comes in I am going to give her a BIG HUG! I will let you know if I get a love tap.