Hello friends.
Unfortunately, we hear more and more stories about lonely old people who get abandoned by their loved ones and are simply unable to take care of themselves due to age. It seems that only yesterday working on their lawn, cleaning the house, and going shopping were all easy tasks for them. But now things that were once so simple have become a real challenge. Today I’m going to tell you an incredible story about one kind person who didn’t just help someone in need, but also showed the world that being good is not that hard.
A Union Pacific Railroad track Inspector, Josh Saigonik, was performing the usual inspection of equipment in his town when he accidentally heard two teenagers talking about something and laughing. After listening more carefully, Josh heard them saying, look at this crappy house. They need to just burn it down. Aren’t its owners ashamed of living there? It didn’t seem like anything special.
The teenagers were just fooling around. But after hearing them, the worker also noticed the rundown house. It was located on a small plot of land. It was clear that no one had been maintaining this house for several years. It’s unclear why, but Josh immediately felt the urge to find out who was living in the house because it was obvious that whoever it was, they needed help.
When he first knocked on the old door, no one opened it. But when he tried a couple more times, a sad retiree appeared on the doorstep of the house. Seeing Josh in his Orange uniform, the man thought that he was with the service that s been offering him to move for a long time to make room for more modern and expensive buildings, and that’s why the old man was afraid to open the door to the stranger. As it turned out, the old man’s name was Leonard Bullock and he was 75 years old. After learning the main purpose of the man’s visit, Leonard was still doubtful, but he invited Josh to come in and talk nonetheless.
It was during this conversation that Josh learned Leonard’s sad story. It turned out that the old man had lived all his life in this town. He used to have a good job and a beloved wife. Like many others, he dreamed of spending time with his grandchildren and seeing the world when he retired. Unfortunately, the couple couldn’t have children, and after Leonard’s retirement, his wife got sick, so they spent all their savings on her treatment.
Having learned about the man’s misfortunes and the reason behind the neighbor’s ridicule, Josh was heartbroken. And when he realized that no one else was willing to help the old man, he found a way to attract attention to the problem. Back home, Josh came up with a clear plan. He knew that he wouldn’t leave the old man in trouble, and even if he had to do everything himself, he’d still help him. The first thing that came to his mind was to repair the house with his own hands, as well as make the unintended plot of land more habitable.
But the men also understood that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off alone, neither financially nor physically. Realizing that he needed help, Josh posted a call for volunteers on his Facebook page. This is what his post said. So I was at work a couple of weeks ago and I heard two teenagers make fun of the house of the old man named Leonard. Having talked to him, I learned that his life hasn’t been easy.
So I’m asking if anyone wants to help this Saturday to volunteer their time to paint the gentleman’s house, as well as do some minor repairs and clean up his yard. And I guess in most cases people don’t react well to these kinds of posts because everyone has their worries and problems, and that’s exactly what Josh thought. However, people’s reactions soon exceeded all of his expectations. Josh said that he was hoping to find a few people, but so many showed up that he couldn’t even believe it. And some were even willing to travel from other parts of the country to help the old man.
Thus, even people from California and Texas joined them. And that’s thousands of miles away. As was previously planned, Josh showed up at the unexpected Leonard’s doorstep on Saturday and blindsided him with the news, which pleased the old man, who had long forgotten what kindness was. Other people started to show up sometime later. They brought paint cans and various tools.
Josh admitted that he stopped counting the volunteers after three dozen. He wasn’t expecting to see more than ten people, but over 95 strangers came to Leonard’s house, willing to help. All that Josh had to do was assign tasks and forget that he was planning to do most of them himself. Some people painted the house, others decided to check the plumbing. Some cleaned the land, and the rest cleaned the house.
These many volunteers were bound to draw the neighbor’s attention. There was so much noise around the once derelict house that the surprised neighbors couldn’t help but look over, trying to figure out what was going on. And that was just the beginning. One of the users saw Josh’s posts and also decided not to stand aside and invited journalists. They covered the story about the good deed of the railroad worker, drawing attention to the fact that there were still many elderly people left in the city, and they also needed help.
The media quickly turned Leonard and Josh into local celebrities, although Josh kept saying that he hadn’t done anything special. I’m not a hero. I was raised to respect the people who came before me to help others out who don’t have much. I only did what anyone should have done in my place, not just me, Josh confessed in an interview. And it turned out that the volunteers who came to help got so involved in the man’s story.
In addition to repairing the house and taking care of the yard, each of them made an effort to make contributions as well. They brought treats and donations and all kinds of gifts for the old man. His home changed so much in one day. His yard now had a neat lawn with flowers. The volunteers worked as a team to replace the broken windows and the old door.
The emotions that Leonard felt at the time were difficult to describe but the fact remains after many years he no longer felt poor and was finally smiling again and that was enough for the volunteers to feel the importance of their contributions. Talking to people the old man honestly admitted that if it wasn’t for Josh he would have remained poor and lonely for the rest of his life as the last thing he wanted to do was ask for help. And Josh’s example reminds us once again that if you don’t shun away from other people’s problems you can often make them happy with a simple act of kindness or even just your attention. So, friends, did you like Josh’s idea to support the old man? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.