I don't know about you, but as I age and the years go by, I can't help but
believe that there are certain good things about society that appear to have
been lost in the sands of time.
People frequently discuss the concept of respect. Not just our parents, but
also teachers, police officers, nurses, and farmers, among others, deserve
our respect.
But I believe that a sense of love and camaraderie in my youth is what I
miss the most. To attempt to further characterize it, I suppose I might say
that it is the sensation that the residents of a region, whether it be a
metropolis, small town, or even hamlet, nearly merge into one huge
family.
To put it another way, when I was younger, I knew the names of every person
who lived on my block. Nearly every home on the street would invite me
inside. I greeted the milkman and the mailman whenever they passed by, and I
could play outside until dusk with confidence that all of the grownups who
lived around my parents' home would watch out for me.
Sure, there are still close-knit communities like that, but, as terrible as
it is to say, they are a disappearing breed.
Because of this, tales like this one do a lot to warm my heart.
Ben Bird has a long history of working as a garbage guy in the UK's
Midlands. Taking care of the same residences implies that, naturally, he
sees a lot of the same individuals when making his rounds, thus by virtue of
the nature of his profession, he comes into touch with the general
public.
But there was always one person with whom he preferred to spend more time
in conversation.
As Ben stated, talking to retired Mercy Ballard was the best part of his
week.
Every Thursday, Ben reportedly took care of Mercy's trash, and ultimately
the two started talking. It turned out to be the start of a strange
friendship.
Where is my favorite woman? Mercy would answer Ben's question by opening
the door so they could speak.
I remove the trash, come back up, and then we have ten minutes to simply
speak, he continued.
Mercy just so happened to disclose that she was in her 90s during one of
these "talks" of that nature. On the spot, Ben informed her he was excited
to sing her Happy Birthday on the day she turned 100.
As a result, the years went by and they kept having their weekly chats.
Fortunately, Mercy's health held up, and she revealed one day that she was
approaching her 100th birthday.
Being a man of his word, Ben recalled the commitment he had made to Mercy
in the past. But he also made the decision to go one step further and
prepare a small surprise for her.
Ben went to a nearby bakery on Mercy's 100th birthday and picked out a cake
to deliver to his close friend. To commemorate Mercy's enormous
accomplishment, he even lit candles on it!
Mercy awoke to see Ben and several of his coworkers at her door with the
cake on the morning of her birthday. They started singing her Happy Birthday
as she went outside to welcome them.
Mercy started crying because she was so moved.
Fortunately for all of us, one of Ben's fellow garbage guys managed to
catch the heartbreaking gesture on camera. It may come as no surprise that
the video was a tremendous hit online, receiving over four million views on
YouTube!
In fact, TV teams visited Mercy's home to do an interview with the two on
her sofa after hearing about Ben's kind gesture. Even Queen Elizabeth sent a
birthday card to the recently turned 100-year-old.
There aren't many young men that show interest in an older woman, Mercy
said ITV News. He's such a kind young man.
See the interview with Mercy and Ben in the video down below:
Tags:
Internet