It was Sunday afternoon in St. Michael Church on January 10, 2010. I sat at the opposite side of the pew where she was seated. As I kneeled to pray, I noticed her weeping in bursts of despair. I looked towards her direction and pitied her so much for her cries. I told myself, “I wish I could help her.” I saw her weeping continuously as she sat there. I noticed that she still had the bracelet indicating she was admitted by Scripps Mercy Hospital, Chula Vista, CA. She would stop for a while during the mass and in between the service, she would cry again.
After the mass, I really wanted to talk to her thinking maybe I could lend a shoulder to cry on. As she started to walk out the door, I followed her and introduced myself and asked her if there is anything I could do to help her. She looked at me in the eye trying to discern if I was for real. I reassured her I wanted to help in whatever I could. She started crying again so I embraced her and she cried more on my shoulders. I asked her if she has a ride and if not, I could give her a ride. She accepted my offer and in my car, she started to open up. She said she was embarrassed because she got out of the hospital and she could not prevent herself from not having “accidents”. She did not have any fresh clothes to change into and she took a bus after checking out of the hospital. I could tell that she had some funny smell of having wet herself that dried up on her clothes. I found out she was from Ukraine. She did not have any children and that her husband dropped her off to the church. I offered her some clothes but we would have to drive to my place which was not too far, about 5 miles away from the church. She was okay with it.
At home, the clothes I gave perfectly fit her and gave her some extra to take home. She was more comfortable after she has changed into fresh clothes and she was very thankful. I offered her something to eat but she only wanted the oranges that were on my fruit tray. She ate a orange but gave her more to take home.
After staying in my place for about half hour, I said I was ready to take her home. The address she gave me sounded familiar. When we got there, I remembered it was a property I showed to a customer before. When she got inside the house, she had already calmed down. I met her husband who seem be of her nationality. I noticed that the house was almost empty and there were piles of belongings and big black trash bags full of stuffs. Her husband mentioned about them moving to a new place in Chula Vista the next day. I told her she could contact me anytime when she needed some help. I lost track of her new place but I did give Brooke my cell phone number and e-mail address.
I pray that Brooke Martin is doing fine. I don’t know why but God must have blessed me with a compassionate heart and that’s the way I am.
