January Meeting
- Thread starter dv3
- Start date
Oh I wish it was more (not just for the coral). In in the December of 2006 I show up to work and do my morning inspection of the grounds (about 30 acres at the corner of 64th and Pecos). I find a man in a tent just outside of the property, under company policy I am supposed to call the sheriff and have the individual removed.
For whatever reason I did not do this and I had decided to watch this small camp on a piece of land no bigger than 5’ x 5’(one side the company fence the other a deep drainage ditch). So about 7:00 am the camp starts to stir, and a frail old man greets the morning with a stretch and a yawn. At that moment I know I have to help this individual out, but how? If I don’t do my job and have this man removed I could be held accountable if something where to happen (Theft, vandalism or an injury due to the nature of businesswe operate).
But if I don’t help the old man it’s apparent that no one else will. So I think all day and take this problem of what to do home with me. I contemplate offering this man a place to stay. But is that the right thing to do with a wife and a 14 year old daughter at home? Bring the guy food? Or have him removed like a piece of trash?
Well the next morning I woke up early 3:30 and started to clean out our pantry my wife wakes up from all the noise and asks “what the hell are you doing?” as I tell her the story she starts to help clear out the pantry. She takes off her necklace of the Virgin Mary and wrights a note and encloses this necklace in the note (to this day I still don’t know what the note said). I stop by and pull out $60 from the ATM. I enclose the money the note with the necklace in a box of triskets. So I wait for this man to stir as he emerges to greet the morning I roll up to him. 4 sacks of stuff from the pantry in hand, I introduce myself and he introduced himself but says "they call me Preacher”. I explain to him how I would like to help but I have to ask him to leave due to my job. I tell him about how by policy of my company, how I was to call the sheriff and have him removed and I don’t want to do that to him. He agrees to move and thanks me more times than I can count for the food.
He moves within site of the property but far enough that I don’t have to call the sheriff. I keep an eye on him just to make sure he’s ok. Just before Christmas I show up to open the gates and there is a card with a bow on it with my name. In this Christmas card he explains how he has no family and no one has ever reached out to him as my family and I had. The next day December 23rd the sheriff’s where all over clear creek behind my work, I asked what had happened, “we had a call that someone was found dead”. I never saw Preacher again. I don’t know if the person found was Preacher but I had to assume.
The next year KBPI did their hand that feeds, I went and bought 1000 lbs. of food and donated it. When they asked my name” I said this is for Preacher”. So ever since then I have given as much as I could.
This is the first time I have ever told the story outside of my family and friends and I hope that “Preacher “ will live on forever by helping other's though me.
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