As the mail carrier walked through the residential neighborhood, she heard a faint cry for help. She stopped and focused on the sound. She walked forward; the pleas became louder. At the corner, she looked to her right and saw an old man lying on the sidewalk. She rushed to him.
“Mister, are you all right?”
“I’m lying on the ground and I can’t get up. What do you think? You have any medical training?”
“Only CPR. Since you’re breathing and your heart is beating, that won’t help. What happened?”
“I was taking my daily health walk. Today it was not too healthy. One minute I’m walking, the next I’m on the ground. Stuck to the ground in fact. I’ve been here about 30 minutes. Seems people around here don’t go outside much, as I’ve been yelling without anyone hearing me until you showed up.”
“Do you have a cellphone? Did you call 911?”
“You think if I had a cellphone I’d be yelling for help? No, I don’t have a cellphone. You can get cancer from those things.”
She called 911 on her cellphone, getting his name, address, and home phone while waiting for the ambulance.
The next day she visited him at the hospital. He beamed on seeing her. “My angel,” he cried.
“My new best friend,” she answered. “They tell me you got dehydrated and fainted. You’ll be fine if you drink enough water. I’m getting you a case. When they discharge you tomorrow, I’ll take you and the water home.”
From then on, she visited him often to make sure he was drinking his water. Two formerly lonely people, they went out to dinner, watched TV, and sat around and told each other maybe true stories. He became the granddad she’d never had.
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