A Story of a Church Parking-Lot, a Laundry Basket, a Gas-can, & God's hand...

​*To "BB"... you know who you are and None of this was possible without you, my Friend!

So....
A Story of a Church Parking-Lot, a Laundry Basket, a Gas-can, & God's hand...

"So here I sit, on some side-street, behind the wheel of my SUV, with my hazard flashers blinking, and I'm watching a Dodge Nitro drive off into oncoming traffic, but what I can't believe is how a laundry basket, for folding clothes, just Re-Charged my reality..."

See, I'd borrowed this plastic, laundry basket and a few other items from someone, to use in a promotional video I was shooting for my Parkinson's Fundraiser. I'd promised to return them to my friend this last Monday, but as life can sometimes unfold, things didn't go as planned.

_MONDAY; I witness my friend (call him "BB"), arriving late for the class I was holding & pulling into a Parking space. I saw this 'cuz during our Parkinson's class warmups, I'd glanced outside to look for him, and, silly Me, what I didn't know, was that "BB" had just accidentally run his car over a curb, trying to hurry up...coming late to class.
Now my wife Carrie was helping with class, so I asked Carrie to go out to check if BB is 'OK' cuz "he's parked, but hasn't come in yet..." I said... Carrie goes to check...
Minutes later she returns...
 Carrie tells me about the car issue, that BB won't be attending class, that he's now heading to TJ's Auto just a couple blocks away to get the car looked at...
BB was supposed to take class that day, and was also supposed to retrieve that Laundry basket of Items I'd borrowed from him the week before... "oh well", I thought, "BB can get them when he comes to the next class on Wed" (same week).

_WEDNESDAY; BB makes it to Parkinson's class OK, but it's a little bit of a 'ruff' class for him... he fell once, (as Folks with Parkinson's are known to struggle with) and after class I offered to help by carrying that Laundry basket of things to his car... he said "OK." While out there, he asked if I'd retrieve for him the trim-molding pieces that got knocked off his car when he hit the curb two days ago (Monday)... They were over in a flower bed...
So I did, put 'em in his car, and then I walked back in to breakdown/Clean-up the gym where we'd just held class... Walking back across the parking lot, I noticed an old Dodge Nitro SUV pull over, across the far side of State Street, westbound, right across from the entrance to our Crosspoint Church parking lot. Their hazard flashers went on, and a gray haired guy in a green tshirt stuck his head and leg outta' the opened driver door and looked back towards his rear tire.. I saw nothing wrong with the tire and I thought maybe he'd hit something and was just checking.. . So I turned, continuing on into the church for the usual after-class clean-up and to leave for the day...
-About 20 min later I'm leaving. I normally would pull outta' that lot and head westbound (left) to my next training, but not today... Instead, today, I was going to a Sporting goods store on East State St to check out a Treadmill for a client, so, I turned Right (Eastbound).

The first block I come to, on my left, I see that Black Dodge Nitro 'round the corner of a side street, parked kinda' crooked, hazards still flashing... I keep driving... a couple more blocks on, I hit the first Red light at Fairview St, a few cars stopped ahead between me and the intersection, and to my right, I see a gray haired man in a green shirt carrying a gas can out of the parking lot of TJ's automotive (same place that BB had taken his car, two days prior), and I realized it was likely the Dodge Nitro driver... he was moving slowly and not too certainly through the cars ahead of me, towards the BP gas station across the street on my left... and I wanted to offer him a ride, but just then a couple cars came up to the light, I'm now boxed in, and think to myself "let it go, he'll be OK"... but, Nope, Not this time... our light turned green, and we had the 'Turn arrow' in our favor, so there was No on-coming cross traffic for the man with the gascan to contend with... but I still felt compelled, so I hit my flashing hazards, the cars around me went on, I looked and saw my chance, I switched on a left blinker and shot across into the gas station parking lot where the old man with the gas can was still navigating his way to the store doors... I rolled down my passenger window, honked, and asked if that was his Black Nitro up the street, he slowly turned, raised the old metal gas can said he had to "get gas for it" and so I asked him if he wanted a ride back to it... he said "that'd be nice."... he went inside, I pulled around out of the way, put my flashers back on, and waited... and waited.. he was not setting any land speed records today, for sure... 
​
So I texted my wife, Carrie. I have helped strangers before, but hey, they're Strangers, so that doesn't mean I trust 'em. Anytime I do sumthin' like this I text my wife to let her know some details... I mean if I end up missing, I wanna' leave a trail of breadcrumbs, so, I texted her this;
"Long Story, but giving an old guy who ran outta gas a ride back to his car. He drives a Black Dodge Nitro, right cross street from Cross Point." (church)... 

About then, a young man walks outta the store with the old man, whose still carrying the gascan, they head to the closest pump, and the youngster helps the Senior pump the gas into the old, red, rusty, one gallon gas can and it's yellow plastic funnel-top. 
The employee heads back in, the Grey haired guy in the green shirt heads towards me, with the rusty old gascan leaking fuel... drop by drop of unleaded, falling behind as he approached my car... what I saw, concerned me... 
Not the leaking gas, so much as the difficulty the old man had opening my car door, putting the can into the passenger floorboard, and then trying to get into my SUV... I'd seen that struggle too many times before... I said, "My name's Jim... saw your car stop across from the Church, I'd just taught a class there for people with Parkinson's"... he looked at me, from under his bushy grey eyebrows and in a muffled voice, said "yeah, too many years now... I have Parkinson's."
I said "Yes Sir, I know."
So I headed west a couple blocks drove him back to the old Dodge Nitro, and when I pulled off on that side street, I noticed an older woman (his Wife) in the driver's seat...
I hung a U-Turn, parked behind the Nitro, put my flashers back on, and watched as he got outta' my car and took the leaky old gas can to the gas fill cap, flipped the cover open (it was right over that rear tire he was looking towards when I first saw him half an hour earlier) and I watched him try to twist open/off the gas cap, which was apparently vacuum sealed since running out of gas. 
Quickly, I texted a follow up to my wife that said...
"PS-The Old Man... has Parkinson's! Thank you God!"

So...
I let it all unfold, wanting him to hang onto all the autonomy he could (him being someone with Parkinson's) but that gas cap wasn't moving, so, I did... 
I got out, offered my help, opened it up, and stepped towards the driver's window, outta' his way, so he could poor the remaining contents that was inside the leaky gas can, into his Dodge.
The woman in the drivers side thanked me, from the other side of her half-rolled-down window...
He poured, slowly, the gas dripping to the ground next to his feet, slowly, and the woman and I talked, a little...
She said "I warned him about that Empty light". I nodded and said "Yeah, doesn't always work out for us". I couldn't tell if her eye rolling then was about my comment, or the man with Parkinson's. I pulled out my Business card, handed it to her through the half down window, and told her I saw them after I'd just finished teaching a class for Parkinson's.
She said "That's what He has!"
I said I knew, and told her if there was anything I could do to help, to "please call me..."
Next thing I hear, the old man says "this gas ain't moving very fast"...
I said "Yeah, kinda like Parkinson's, you can't force and rush it."... next thing I know he gave me that same look as before, from under his bushy eyebrows...
Outta' the blue, the woman tried to start the car, WHILE he was still pouring in gas from the leaking can...

Well, the car didn't start, and it didn't blow up, and no one died, and I'm still here to share this story...

So eventually, the leaky gas can, coming out it's top and it's bottom, was empty, the woman got out of the Nitro, walked around and got in the other side, the old man with Parkinson's got in, one leg hanging out the still open Driver's door, turned the key and she started right up again (the car, not the Wife), they thanked me, I got back in my SUV, watched them drive away, ad they made a left across traffic, and It looked like they were headed towards TJ's Automotive.

Sitting there, with my flashers still blinking, my eyes started blinking, and I actually started to cry a little, not too much or too fast, because some things can't be rushed... they have to be allowed to flow and unfold when, where and how God means them to...

See, I almost NEVER follow my Parkinson's class people Into the parking lot, 'cuz it takes so long to clean up class afterwards (setting up before and breaking it down after takes me 2 hrs total to teach a 1 hr class), but I did that day... I did that day, because 2 days prior, someone with Parkinson's who I help, someone who came to see me, and on that day their Parkinson's messed up their plans, well, that changed my plans on this Wednesday, but that's just how God plans stuff... if, we will just allow what He plans for us to unfold.

PS-In a town the size of Rockford where I live, if there's 150,000 population, you'd be hard pressed to find 1,500 with Parkinson's... so I dare even 'a Stephen Hawkings' to do 'the numbers' that would show any likelihood of this unfolding the way it did, WiTHOUT "Divine-design."

-JiM
REBOPS