Friday evening my wife and I went out to eat. The Southern Belle restaurant has two choices on Friday nights, steak or catfish. She likes steak most of the time. It’s a 50/50 toss up for me, whether I eat steak or fish. Most of the time I like a good ribeye, but every now and then I eat the fish. I like the saltiness of it.
The owner of the feed store was there with his wife. They sat across from an elderly couple, a frail little lady and a stoop shouldered elderly man. I watched as the man from the feed store helped them get in and out of their booth as they got up to go to the salad bar. When they left, he made sure they made it out and down the steps okay. I don’t know if he realized it or not, but everyone in the restaurant watched him help that couple.
In the book of I Timothy, it says people should treat elders with respect, as if they were fathers, mothers, or brothers and sisters. I thought that was something, as I watched that feed store guy help those folks. I would bet after loading feed all day he would be fairly tired, yet he still helped that couple.
The next day I made sure I spent a little extra in the feed store when I made my morning rounds. There’s a blind man that comes to our church. He has his own spot every Sunday and everyone knows where he sits. It’s something to see, he’s always smiling and happy. The preacher and several people in the church always make sure he gets a plate of food or takes part in whatever we happen to be doing.
I like where I live here in southeast Oklahoma. It seems we have an abundance of good hearted people. There’s never a shortage of stories about someone helping their neighbor out.
Good hearted, that’s what has came to mind these past few days as I’ve went about doing my chores. When my cows got out the other day, I called my neighbor to go put them in for me. I was out of town. He put them back on their side of the fence, then fixed the hole in the fence for me.
Southeast Oklahoma, home to good hearted people.
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi Mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories, and fools with cows and horses.
