A friend in Memphis

Franz Kellner

by Franz Kellner

Story
Memphis

From 1983 until 1988 I helped with social projects in an NGO in the USA. It was a beautiful, fulfilling and exciting time for me. I lived in Memphis for 2 years.
I had several very dear friends from different cultures, African American, Indian, Japanese, White American. I have always believed that friendship is color blind.

My story began in downtown Memphis. I was walking with a Japanese colleague named Emiko and we saw an elderly woman trying to push a man in a wheelchair up into a specially designed minibus.

Emiko and I helped and the woman was grateful and happy. We were asked what we were doing in Memphis and a warm connection developed surprisingly quickly. We met more often in private. He was a lawyer, his name was Michael, and his mother drove him to the office every weekday.

A short time later I was hit by a drunk driver and woke up in a single room with a TV in a hospital with a minor head injury, a bruised hip and a broken wrist. The service was very friendly and first class. When I was released, I received the bill for it. Around $3.300,00. A surprise for me.
The driver had been arrested, but by the time I got out of the hospital he was gone. New address unknown. Incidentally, the car had been borrowed from a friend.

I visited Michael and, as a good lawyer, he knew what to do right away. He identified the owner of the vehicle, his insurance company and they paid the entire bill. Michael refused any reward from me for his help. He was happy to be invited to lunch with his mother at my friends’ house, where I was also staying.
His mother was delighted with a bouquet of roses.

Despite his fate in a wheelchair, Michael was a positive and faithful person. When I visited him at home once, he was watching a wrestling show on TV. He laughed at it and said “it’s all just for show”.

I thanked destiny for this wonderful coincidence and meeting such warm-heartistic people.


© Franz Kellner 2023-05-03

Genres
Spirituality, Self-help & Life support
Moods
Abenteuerlich, Hoffnungsvoll, Inspirierend
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