Please read this in about 2 minutes, and you won’t forget it for the rest of your life. A taxi driver from New York tells: “I had to go to an address to pick up a passenger. When I arrived at the location, I didn’t see anyone, and I honked the horn. After a few minutes of waiting, I honked again. Since it was my last trip of the shift, I thought of leaving; I couldn’t endure it anymore. I was tired of driving the streets of New York all night. But instead,
I parked the car, went to the passenger’s door, and knocked. “Just a minute,” an old and frail voice replied.
I heard someone struggling, dragging something in the corridor. After a short while, the door opened, and a petite woman around 90 years old appeared before me. She was wearing a dress and had a vintage hat with ribbons on her head, like those in movies from forty years ago.
Next to her stood a small suitcase. The house looked completely empty, as if no one had lived there for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There was no clock on the walls, and all the cabinets were empty. In the kitchen, there were no dishes. It seemed as if no one had ever cooked there. In one corner, there was a cardboard box filled with photos and trinkets. “Can you please take my suitcase to the car?” she asked me. I placed the suitcase in the trunk and went back to help the lady. She took my arm, and slowly, we walked to the taxi. She thanked me for the help. “No problem,” I replied. “I’m just trying to treat you the way I would want someone to treat my mother.” “Oh, you are a very good boy!” she responded. When we sat in the taxi, she handed me a piece of paper with an address and asked, “Could you take me to this address by driving through the city?”
“That’s the longer route. It will cost more,” I quickly informed her. “Oh, no problem. I have no reason to hurry. I’m going to a hospice. They’re expecting me anytime.” The lady sat in the back seat, and I looked at her through the rearview mirror. Her eyes were shining with tears. “I have no family,” she said with a gentle voice. “The doctor told me that very little time is left for me. When I heard that, I turned off the meter immediately.” “Which way should I go? I am ready to fulfill all your wishes,” I told her. We drove for two hours around the city. She showed me a university building where she had worked as a professor. We entered a wealthy neighborhood where she had lived with her husband. She asked me to slow down near a furniture store that, many years ago, had been a large dance hall. There, she used to dance when she was young.
Often, when passing by a particular place, she requested me to lower the speed. She fixed her eyes on the morning sun, wiped her tears, and whispered something to herself. When the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, she said, “I am tired. It’s time!” Finally, without saying a word to each other, we entered a narrow street to the address where she was going.
It was a low building, like a vacation house. Two people from the clinic came immediately to the taxi. They were professionals, checking every move of the lady. Of course, they knew about her arrival. I took her suitcase and placed it in front of the clinic’s door. The staff assisted the lady into a wheelchair. “How much do I owe you?” she asked me. At that moment, she took her wallet from her handbag. “You don’t owe me anything,” I told her. “You have to secure your livelihood,” she replied. “I have other passengers,” I told her. Instinctively, I bent over her, hugged her with a lot of love, and she squeezed me tightly with trembling hands. With her hoarse voice, she said, “You gave an old lady a moment of happiness.” “Thank you very much,”
I told her and walked towards the taxi, which had just been touched by the first rays of the morning sun. After me, the door of the clinic closed. It felt like the end of a life. I got into the empty car and drove home, without caring about anything. Throughout the day, I only thought about that old lady. I thought that my behavior with that old lady was the best in my entire life. If you don’t share this story, nothing will happen to you. But if you share it, you might open someone’s eyes and brighten the mind of someone who sleeps in darkness. Many people “wake up” too late when everything is already late. Yesterday does not become today.
