Yesterday\u2019s post reminded me of another event where an angel came to my rescue.\u00a0 It was my senior year at Wellesley College.\u00a0 Three friends and I decided to take a canoe trip down the Charles River to see our friends at Harvard in Cambridge.\u00a0 We rented the canoes at a place that was just upstream from a dam.\u00a0 One of us had scoped out the scene earlier, and found that we could carry the canoes around the dam easily.\u00a0 So we started paddling down the river, off on our great adventure.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember what we took for food, probably fruit and sandwiches, perhaps even beer.\u00a0 But alas, no one had looked at a map.\u00a0 The Charles River is probably the longest way you could take from Wellesley to Cambridge.\u00a0 The Charles had many meander bends between Wellesley and Dedham.\u00a0 We spent all our time wandering back and forth.\u00a0 Occasionally we\u2019d go under a bridge and see a town sign.\u00a0 The first one said \u201cNeedham\u201d, the second \u201cDedham.\u201d\u00a0 Great!\u00a0 we were advancing on our goal.\u00a0 But then we saw one that said \u201cNeedham\u201d again.\u00a0 Consternation!\u00a0 At first we had traveled between green banks, where the back yards of expensive houses extended down to the river and trees hung over it.\u00a0 Later, as the meanders became quite constricted, we found ourselves turning back and forth in a large meadow of ripe grasses.\u00a0 They were a beautiful golden brown in the hot afternoon sun, but we hadn\u2019t seen a house for a long time.\u00a0 It seemed like we spent hours paddling one way and then the other.\u00a0 Time was going by and we were nowhere near Cambridge.\u00a0 Finally we came to a place where there were small houses near the water, even a dock sticking out with a small boy on it.\u00a0 We paddled over and asked him where we were.\u00a0 He shook his head and started up toward one of the houses.\u00a0 An older man came down, looked at four hot and tired Wellesley girls in two canoes, and said, with a twinkle in his eye, \u201cShipwrecked?\u00a0 I\u2019ve been shipwrecked too.\u00a0 I\u2019ll help you out.\u201d
\nSo the question is: what can you do to thank the person who helped you besides a hearty \u201cThank you!\u201d\u00a0 Usually, someone who is able to come to the rescue is further along the path, bigger or richer or with more resources, what can you give them?\u00a0 What you do is help the next person you come across who\u2019s shipwrecked \u2014 if in fact you do have the resources to help.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t, you can just sit with them, or find somebody who can help.
\nOur rescuer loaded the canoes onto his trailer, and allowed us to call our friends who came and got us.\u00a0 The man who rented us the canoes was so happy to see them he didn\u2019t give us any trouble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday\u2019s post reminded me of another event where an angel came to my rescue.\u00a0 It was my senior year at Wellesley College.\u00a0 Three friends and I decided to take a canoe trip down the Charles River to see our friends … Continue reading