What would I have done....

The amazing woman in this story is my precious mother-in-law. I wonder what I would have done in the same situation.

I am over joyed that I am not hurt, I have my car, my purse and my cell phone

I am very concerned about the young man I am about to tell you about. Please keep his son, his wife and him in your prayers.

I am afraid we are going to see a lot more of what almost happened to me with the economy the way it is.

Friday, March 26, 2010, 11:30a, Fig Garden Village, Fresno..

I parked my car toward the end of the parking lane away from the drug store in Fig Garden Village where no other cars were parked. I do this for two reasons, walking exercise and to keep people from dinging my car when they open their car doors. When I was walking in, I saw a man dressed in a black sweatshirt, dark pants and a baseball cap. I thought to myself that he looked out of place in that parking lot, not a good thought but that is what I thought.

I did my shopping which didn’t take more than 10-15 minutes and returned to my car. I had my keys in my hand so I could push the button to unlock the car door. When I got in the car I put my purse on the passenger seat and put the key in the ignition. I was reaching for my seat belt and there was the fellow in the black sweatshirt standing between me and my car door. My first thought was he was panhandling. That was not the case. He told me to get out of the car and give him my keys, my purse and my cell phone. He said he had a gun and could hurt me so for me to do as he said. My mind was racing like wild fire, I knew I had to stall. I didn’t get out of my car. I put my hand on the horn, he said "Don’t do that cause I will have to hurt you". I asked him why he was doing this, he said he could get $2,500 for my car in the snap of his fingers and he needed the money. I asked him why he needed that much money. He said his 2 year old son was in the hospital. I asked what was wrong with his son, he said he has cancer all thru his body and he doesn’t know what he, the father, did to cause this. The doctor told him the treatment his son must have is very expensive and he needed to have the money before they would do the treatment. I asked which hospital the child was in, he said Children’s Hospital in Madera. I told him I volunteer there and there are funds to help people in need. He said nobody told him this. I told him what to do to be directed to the office where they could arrange financial help

He then told me that he had lost his job and then they lost their house and now his wife is out on the street and they slept in the park Thursday night. He told me this is the first time he has ever done anything like this. I told him that he was making a big mistake because he could go to jail for a long time and his son needs him now more than ever. I told him I could not give him $2,500 but I could give him all the money I had in my purse which was around $200. I got my wallet out and got all the paper money out, I had $146. I told him he could have the money and I wouldn’t go to the police if he promised he wouldn’t do this again. He asked why I was being so nice to him. I asked him what good it would do me not to be nice. We had other conversation which is all a garble to me now, I was pretty shook up at the time. He did show me a picture of his son, he is a darling little boy. He said the child was the light of his life and didn’t know what he was going to do if he didn’t get well.

Before he took the money he asked if this was going to make it hard for me. I said do you mean is this going to keep me from having food on my table and is it going to make it so I can’t pickup my cleaning, I said no that was not the case.

He asked again why I was being so nice to him. I said I think God’s hand was in this, God knew we could work this out

He asked if he could hug me. I was very apprehensive but he could hurt me if I said no as easily as he could if I said yes so I said yes. His whole body was trembling, and I could not feel a gun. I gave him the money.

He then said he wanted to pay me back when things turned around for him. I told him I didn’t want him to pay me back, this was my gift to him in his hard times and time of need. Then he said "I can come and work for you in your yard or fix things for you in exchange for the money". I again told him no, this was my gift to him. By this time he had tears running down his cheeks. He asked me if I was married, I told him yes. He said can I hug you again, I said yes. He then said when I got home he wanted me to tell my husband he was married to an angel. He walked away toward Palm.

I went on to the cleaners and got my cleaning. Then I drove around the parking lot four times, up and down between the parked cars looking for him to make sure he wasn’t doing the same thing to someone else. I didn’t see him again.

I may be naive or even stupid, but I think my actions may have helped this young man and I feel very good inside about handling this the way I am. And no, I am not going to go to the police, I promised him I wouldn’t the same as he promised me he wouldn’t try to take someone’s belongings again. I hope he keeps his promise too.

I feel very blessed.

Ann Wood