The Shine Journal

The Volunteer

 

by

 

Sally Ahearn

 

 

As Arnie Wohl drove on the way to delivering his Meals on Wheels route, he heard a bang! Hisssss! It was a flat. By the time he got through at the garage and on to the Christian Health Care Center, he was an hour late. Mrs. Alvarez scolded him as she came out of the cafeteria, wheeling a cart with two trays. One had hot meals; the other had cold sandwiches. Arnie apologized profusely as he sorted the meals so that each would be arranged in the order of his route. He put the hot and cold coolers into his car.

 

He delivered food to several familiar homes. The nurse’s aide for Mrs. Smith said, “I thought you weren’t coming today. You’re late,” and Arnie had to explain why he was so late. Mrs. Lang presented him with a pile of used aluminum containers and said that she wanted Arnie to return them. Arnie had had to tell her that they couldn’t be reused because that wouldn’t be sterile. Then he arrived at the assisted living facility.

 

Arnie walked down the hall, after being buzzed in, and knocked on Mrs. Hudson’s door.

 

“Door’s open!” she called.

 

He entered the apartment and placed her food on the table. She was nearing 97 but she was still sharp. “How are you today, Mrs. Hudson?” Arnie asked.

 

“I’m a bit cold,” she said. “I just can’t get warm these days…”

 

He noticed that she was wearing a sweater and that she had a blanket draped over her knees. “Can I get you another blanket from the closet?” he asked.

 

“Oh, no. I’m fine. I just don’t feel well. At my age, you don’t complain anymore, though. It’s an adventure just to wake up in the morning. You’re such a gem, Arnie. All those other volunteers have stopped coming, but you still come every day. We depend on you, you know.”

 

“Thanks, dear. I guess with the price of gas these days and the state of the economy that people just can’t afford to drive the route anymore.”

 

“Have you seen your daughter lately?”

 

“She came over to help me design our jack-o-lantern, but I’ve hardly seen her at all lately. Have you seen your son?”

 

“He came last weekend with my three grandchildren. He went through a divorce last year. It’s not easy for him to raise those kids all alone.”

 

“Yes, I know how tough it is to be on your own. Maybe he’ll meet someone new.”

 

“That’s what I like about you, Arnie. You look on the bright side. That’s what my husband, Charlie, used to do. He’d say, ‘There’s a rainbow after every storm.’”

 

“I think I would’ve liked Charlie. Well, you take care now.”

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mrs. Hudson said.

 

The leaves fell from the trees and Thanksgiving came and went. Then Christmas was upon them. Arnie put Christmas lights around the bushes in front of his house and put wreaths with red bows on every door.  He drove through several snowstorms to deliver food to his customers.

 

One day, in a blizzard, an SUV approached his ageing Toyota Camry. The car came at him, and everything began to move in slow motion. There was a crashing of metal on metal, and the SUV plowed into the hood, totaling his car. Arnie was thrown into the windshield, and a sliver of mirror from the rearview penetrated his cheek. He suffered two broken legs and several broken ribs, and was bedridden for two months.

 

When at last he was able to begin his Meals on Wheels route again, Arnie drove to Mrs. Hudson’s. When he got there, she did not buzz him in. He knocked on the sliding glass door and someone let him in. As he neared her door, a woman across the hall poked her head out and said, “She passed away last night. There’s going to be a wake tonight at Finnegan’s Funeral Parlor at 7 PM. Why don’t you come?”

Arnie was stricken. Mrs. Hudson was gone. He drove home, puttered around the house mending odd things, made dinner, washed the dishes, put on a black suit, and then drove to the funeral parlor.

 

Arnie approached the family, who were all lined up against the wall.

 

“Sorry for your loss,” he said. “Are you Mrs. Hudson’s son?”

 

“Yes, I’m Bob. And you are?”

 

“I’m Arnie Wohl,” Arnie said, extending his hand. Bob shook it. “I volunteer for Meals on Wheels. I delivered meals to your mother for ten years. A sweeter woman you’ll never meet.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Arnie. Mom mentioned you several times. Didn’t you used to work on Wall Street? She said you were her guardian angel.”

 

“I’ll miss her something terrible,” Arnie said.

 

He drove home and looked in the mirror. For the first time, he really saw the deep wrinkles in his face. How was it that his life had passed by? Why, it seemed just yesterday that he and Helen had been standing together at the altar. He could still feel Helen’s loving presence, though she’d had been gone for fifteen years. All he had now were his memories. He wondered when it was that he had grown old. Somehow time had snuck up on him, as it had for Mrs. Hudson. What would happen to him when he, too, grew frail? A storm had just passed through and the sun came out. As Arnie looked out the window, he saw a rainbow.

---

Sally Ahearn in Rome!

MOTIVATION:" I've been volunteering for Meals on Wheels since last February and find it very uplifting. My customers really appreciate the food I bring them.

BIO: Sally Ahearn is a writer, teacher, and editor, who  lives in New Jersey.

Rainbow  Photo by: I M Birchall