beautiful in it's simplicity and powerful in it's message.

 THE TAXI RIDE

Twenty years ago, a man drove a cab for a living. One morning about 2:30 a.m. he received a call. Upon arriving, the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Sometimes under these circumstances, many drivers would just toot once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away.

He always went to the door!. He knocked on the door. "Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice. He could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a while the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before him. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small nylon suit case. The house looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks or photographs on the walls, no knick-knacks on the shelves.

In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. "Would you carry my bag out to the car please?" she said. He took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took his arm and they walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking him for his kindness. "It's nothing", he smiled. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated".

"Oh, you're such a good boy", she said. When they got in the cab, she gave him an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through the town?".

"It's not the shortest way," he answered.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice".

He looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

He quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

"What route would you like me to take?" he asked. For the next two hours, they drove through the city. She showed him the building where she had once worked.

They drove through the neighbourhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She even had him pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now"

They drove in silence to the address she had given him. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two Carers came out to the Taxi as soon as it pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

He opened the boot and took out the small suitcase and carried it to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse. "Nothing," He said.

"You have to make a living," she answered. "There are other passengers," He responded. Almost without thinking, he bent and gave her a hug. She held onto him tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

He squeezed her hand and walked out into the dim morning light. Behind him, a door shut.

It was the sound of the closing of a life. He didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. He drove aimlessly lost in thought.

For the rest of that day, He could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if he had refused to take the run, or had tooted his horn once, then driven away?

He pondered and concluded to himself, he had never done anything more important in his life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware. They are beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.