A Time of Unexpected Giving (A True Story Written in 1940)
We’re in the season of giving and what I’m about to share with you is an article written in 1940 from a teacher, who was dying. Her name was Mrs. Lawrence and her article was published in an educational journal. I would share with you more than this, but I’m wearing a bag over my head, because I must keep my identity a secret.
At this time, I am honored to share with you, Mrs. Lawrence’s article entitled, “The Unselfishness of Some People.”
An experience a year old July 24, 1940, though full of tragedy, has opened up to me a world that I didn’t know existed. Yes, I have made a real discovery about unselfishness which has awakened in me an urgent desire to tell the whole story in the hope that the unselfishness of some people may be followed where there happens to fall by the wayside some poor, unfortunate soul like myself.
Having undergone a major operation on July 24, 1939, I returned home in due time, expecting to be at my pose of duty in the classroom when school opened in September. On August 15, I suddenly became paralyzed and could not swallow even a drop of water. After months of kindly care, I was up on my feet again, swallowing, and enjoying many things.
Perhaps, one of the things which have helped me most was the unselfish attitude of my fellow workers at school. One day when I felt a very great desire to get out of my sick room what should suddenly appear at my door but two angel faces who had brought a rolling chair, purchased by my friends at school. In a few minutes my nurse had me out on the porch, where the world look beautiful and from that day to this, I’ve been on the road to recovery.
Well, October rolled around, and just how much I dreaded the thought of not getting the check which had been my privilege for twenty-one years, nobody knows. In a few days the door bell rang and another angel face soon entered my room. She had in her hand a little brown hand bag which contained bills and change from my friends at school. Well, I was rich after all. Believe it or not, this same thing happened ten times or in other words, every time the teachers received their checks. During the school year they gave me over one hundred dollars, and I have often wondered at the self-denial that had to be practiced in order for such unselfishness to be accomplished. Besides this money, many school friends gave me gifts at Christmas and Easter as well as before and after those dates.
Perhaps the greatest of these surprises was the last one.
I was invited to school to lunch several times after I became strong enough to get into a car, and an invitation came the last week of school. The principal sent a car for me, and when I reached there, I was ushered into the final teachers’ meeting. In a few minutes one of the teachers came in and presented me with a small flower pot filled with sand into which were stuck some yellow daisies. A verse of poetry accompanied the flowers. Here it is----
“Under the sod God puts His gift
Of nourishment for each flower part.
Under this earth we’ve put our gift
Of tribute to your undaunted heart.”
Upon reading it my curiosity was aroused, and I had a desire to take out the daisies and empty the sand from the pot, so I did it and found in the bottom, some bills and change. What a heavenly surprise! I’ll never forget the thrill.
All of this unselfishness on the part of my former workers at school has helped me to come back to a great degree of normalcy. Perhaps, I’ll never be able to resume my work in a classroom, but my life is spared to those who need me even if I am helpless in many respects. The unselfishness of my fellow workers at school has taught me “that earth’s crammed with heaven.”
Mrs. Lawrence signed it as---An Invalid Classroom Teacher. She passed away on Sunday, April 20, 1941 at her home.
Her true story needs to be shared with others, because it truly represents human compassion, the unselfish gift of giving to someone in need without expecting something in return. These teachers helped a co-worker, because it was the right thing to do.
At this time, I am honored to share with you, Mrs. Lawrence’s article entitled, “The Unselfishness of Some People.”
An experience a year old July 24, 1940, though full of tragedy, has opened up to me a world that I didn’t know existed. Yes, I have made a real discovery about unselfishness which has awakened in me an urgent desire to tell the whole story in the hope that the unselfishness of some people may be followed where there happens to fall by the wayside some poor, unfortunate soul like myself.
Having undergone a major operation on July 24, 1939, I returned home in due time, expecting to be at my pose of duty in the classroom when school opened in September. On August 15, I suddenly became paralyzed and could not swallow even a drop of water. After months of kindly care, I was up on my feet again, swallowing, and enjoying many things.
Perhaps, one of the things which have helped me most was the unselfish attitude of my fellow workers at school. One day when I felt a very great desire to get out of my sick room what should suddenly appear at my door but two angel faces who had brought a rolling chair, purchased by my friends at school. In a few minutes my nurse had me out on the porch, where the world look beautiful and from that day to this, I’ve been on the road to recovery.
Well, October rolled around, and just how much I dreaded the thought of not getting the check which had been my privilege for twenty-one years, nobody knows. In a few days the door bell rang and another angel face soon entered my room. She had in her hand a little brown hand bag which contained bills and change from my friends at school. Well, I was rich after all. Believe it or not, this same thing happened ten times or in other words, every time the teachers received their checks. During the school year they gave me over one hundred dollars, and I have often wondered at the self-denial that had to be practiced in order for such unselfishness to be accomplished. Besides this money, many school friends gave me gifts at Christmas and Easter as well as before and after those dates.
Perhaps the greatest of these surprises was the last one.
I was invited to school to lunch several times after I became strong enough to get into a car, and an invitation came the last week of school. The principal sent a car for me, and when I reached there, I was ushered into the final teachers’ meeting. In a few minutes one of the teachers came in and presented me with a small flower pot filled with sand into which were stuck some yellow daisies. A verse of poetry accompanied the flowers. Here it is----
“Under the sod God puts His gift
Of nourishment for each flower part.
Under this earth we’ve put our gift
Of tribute to your undaunted heart.”
Upon reading it my curiosity was aroused, and I had a desire to take out the daisies and empty the sand from the pot, so I did it and found in the bottom, some bills and change. What a heavenly surprise! I’ll never forget the thrill.
All of this unselfishness on the part of my former workers at school has helped me to come back to a great degree of normalcy. Perhaps, I’ll never be able to resume my work in a classroom, but my life is spared to those who need me even if I am helpless in many respects. The unselfishness of my fellow workers at school has taught me “that earth’s crammed with heaven.”
Mrs. Lawrence signed it as---An Invalid Classroom Teacher. She passed away on Sunday, April 20, 1941 at her home.
Her true story needs to be shared with others, because it truly represents human compassion, the unselfish gift of giving to someone in need without expecting something in return. These teachers helped a co-worker, because it was the right thing to do.