Every Day I Watch

I have never met the man but I feel as though I don’t need to. I feel like I already know him without ever talking to him. I don’t even know his name but I know everything about his character. He is kind, caring, and is always up for a quick chat with the locals. The reason that I feel that I’m so close to him is because for the past six months I have followed him on his daily journey. I never have to worry about him seeing me because he has no sight. I have to follow him though with distance because he has a great sense of hearing. You may ask why I have so much time on my hands to follow someone everyday for the past six months, but I have been retired for the past year. I’m a retired school bus driver for Clinton Woods public school system. I enjoyed it very much. I loved talking to the kids’ everyday as they step onto the bus. Every day I would bring Granola Bars and give them to the kids as they walked off the bus. I always felt that if I’m not being a good person then what is life all about? This is exactly why I took an interest in the man who walks his same path every day. I have noticed this man for years now. I live in an apartment above the café where he gets his daily bread and coffee. I noticed how kind he always is. I would start to follow him from the time he left the café. He would always go to the famous tobacco field that we have here in Reidsville, North Carolina. He would just lay there. He would often sing old church hymns. Every time that an airplane would fly over head he would stop singing and listen. He would often smile. I never really knew what he was thinking about as they passed over. He just looked always so peaceful. Maybe he was just imaging all the people that were on board and maybe where all they were going. I have never met anyone like him. After leaving the field he always goes to Gardens Walk nursing home. He always plays games with the elderly. They discuss stories and things that they have all accomplished. After he leaves the residence always have a smile on their faces that goes ear to ear. He then will casually walk home. I couldn’t wait for the next day to come. Seeing him making others happy and seeing how he can simply bring so much happiness to himself make me smile. Months and months go by and I proceed with the same routine. Until one day I didn’t see him. I thought maybe I just missed him coming out of the café so I went to the tobacco field where I thought he would be, but there was no sign of him. I went to the café and asked the owner if he had seen the blind man. He told me that he was admitted to Shaddy Oaks Hospital. Immediately after leaving the café I went straight to the hospital. Without knowing his name it made it extremely difficult to locate him, but finally I did. As I was walking into the room a nurse was walking out. I asked her exactly what was wrong. She said that he has been fighting cancer for eight years now. He has been in remission but it has come back and it doesn’t look good this time. It has spread to his spine and this made it impossible for doctors to contain it. After the nurse preceded by me I slowly entered the room. Seeing the man hooked up to oxygen and looking so frail just killed me. I sat down in the chair next to his bed. I saw the man turn his head toward me as if he could see me. He then opened his mouth and said, “So you followed me here as well.” I thought to myself how he knows that I have been following him. So I asked him just that. He went on to explain that being blind give you other great senses. He went on to describe how he can sense things on a high level than most people can. He said that he just always felt me in his presence. I then noticed that it was getting harder to breathe for him. I knew that his time was drawing near. He finally looked in my direction and said, “thank you!” I said for what? He motioned for me to come closer. I leaned in and he said, “thank you for….” At that moment his heart monitor was still. His chest no longer rose. I immediately teared up. I exited the room and found the nurse. I told her what happened. She said that he would have normally gone earlier but he seemed to be waiting for someone. I guess that person was you. I gently smiled. I turned around to look in the room once more. My eye caught the room number by the door frame. Under the number I saw that his name was James. After all this time I finally know his name. That night it kept bothering me as to what he wanted to say to me. What was he trying to tell me? I thought about it and realized that he wanted to thank me for continuing his work. He knew that it would happen. He brought so much happiness to the people and I couldn’t just let that stop. So every day I would trace his steps and fulfill what he would have wanted. To simply spread happiness with just being kind.