ACTS OF KINDNESS

ACTS OF KINDNESS

Roger Sawyer was in most respects an average American.  He was a construction worker who was valued for his dependability, resourcefulness, and attention to detail.  Most of his off hours were spent with his sweetheart, Suzie Benton, and at the house he was fixing that he had bought for a song.   His goals were to complete the renovation of the house, marry Suzie, and start a family. 

One Saturday morning, as Roger was repairing the gutters on the front of the house, Miss Emma Baldwin, who lived down the street from Roger, walked up to the house and called out to Roger.  “Mr. Sawyer, I hate to bother you, but I need to talk to you a second.”  Roger descended the ladder and walked over to “Miss Emma,” as she was called.  “Mr. Sawyer, I know you are in construction and so I hoped you could give me some advice.  This morning, I noticed the floor in the hall of my house was kind of mushy feeling. I hadn’t noticed it before. Could you recommend someone to come look at it and see what’s going on?”  What she was really asking was for Roger to go over to her house and check the floor out. 

Roger told her he would be happy to take a look at the floor.  They walked over to Miss Emma’s house.  As they entered the house, Roger noticed that her home was sparsely furnished and neat as a pin.  The only thing that stood out was a moderate-sized trunk that was in front of a large window in the living room.  They went to the hall that led to the bedroom wing of the house.  The floor in one spot was definitely a little mushy.  “Miss Emma, I’m going to need to crawl under your house to see what is going on.  “Oh, Mr. Sawyer, you don’t need to do that.  You’ll get all dirty.”  “Well, I’ve got my work clothes on and since I’ve been at work for several hours I’ve already gotten pretty dirty.” 

They went to the back yard and Roger found the door to the crawl space.  He had anticipated that he would have to do this so he brought a flashlight with him.  As he neared the area below the hall he noticed that the ground was moist.  He checked the pipes that zigzagged above him and noticed a slight crack in one.  He felt it and noticed some moisture.  He looked around and found several more cracks.

After exiting the crawl space he went up to the kitchen door.  It was open and he could hear Miss Emma talking to someone.  “Now this isn’t much, but I hope you can put it to good use. I believe in you.”  He heard the front door close and Miss Emma walking toward the kitchen. 

Roger explained that the pipes needed to be repaired.  “What I can do right now, Miss Emma, is patch the pipes, open the grates to the crawl space to let the ground dry out and do a little repair to the floorboards.  This will just be a stop-gap, but will work until you can have a better job done.”  Miss Emma thanked Roger and didn’t want him to take time away from his house, but he insisted that it wouldn't take very long. 

As he looked into the kitchen he noticed a bad stain on the ceiling. “Have you noticed that stain, Miss Emma?”

“Oh yes, it appeared about a month ago when we had that bad rainstorm. I’ve been keeping my eye on it and it hasn’t gotten any worse.” 

Roger went back home and got the materials he would need.  He crawled under the house again and made what repairs he could.  He also looked around the rest of the crawlspace to look for other signs of damage and found a few other spots.  

After he was finished, Miss Emma met him at the kitchen door with an envelope. “I know this is not nearly what you are worth, Mr. Sawyer, but I want to pay you something.”  Roger refused and said he was just being a good neighbor.  He recommended a good handyman you could deal with more extensive repairs and also repair the ceiling and roof. 

About a week went by and Roger started wondering about Miss Emma and her house.  He walked over.  As he approached the house he noticed a couple leaving.  The woman had an envelope in her hand.  He waited a minute or two and then went up to Miss Emma’s front door and knocked.   Miss Emma came to the door. 

“Why, Mr. Sawyer.  Thank you for stopping by.   And thank you for recommending the handyman.  He was so nice and took lots of time looking over my house.  He made a nice list in order of priority.  It’s quite a list!  Unfortunately, I just don’t have the money right now, and I didn’t want to waste his time, but I plan to save up and should have the money by the end of the year."

Roger knew that winter was coming and that her house would only get in worse shape.  “Miss Emma, I’ve got some extra time and would be happy to do the work I can.” 

“Oh no, Mr. Sawyer.  You can’t do that.  You have enough to do.” 

“I promise, Miss Emma, that it will be no problem.  I even have some left over materials from the work I have been doing on my house that I can use.”

So, Roger began working on Miss Emma’s house and, as these things tend to go, the more he tore away the more problems he found.  Work on his own house came to a virtual standstill.  His fiancé, Suzie, noticed and asked what was happening.  “Well, Miss Emma down the street really needs some work done on her house and she seems to live on a shoestring. 

“You mean, Miss Emma Baldwin?” 

“Do you know her?”

“I don’t know her personally but I know that she and my grandmother were good friends.  They both worked at the community library for many years.”

“Did your mother know her?”

“Yes, mother lived in the library growing up and Miss Emma was like her second mother.” 

“You know, Suzie, I have noticed something about Miss Emma I’d like to talk with your mother about.” 

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

Sunday afternoons were always spent at Suzie’s house.  They would come home from church.  Mrs. Benton and Suzie would work on dinner and Roger and Suzie’s father would putter around the house.  Mr. Benton had MS and so Roger would help him fix things that he was not able to do.  After dinner, Suzie and Mrs. Benton would usually clear the table and Roger and Mr. Benton would take a walk. 

This Sunday, however, Roger asked Mrs. Benton if he would help her clean up.  As they stood in front of the kitchen sink, Roger asked Mrs. Benton about Miss Emma. 

“Miss Emma Baldwin is the salt of the earth.  She and my momma worked together at the library for years and were like sisters.”

“Did she grow up here?” “There was a lot that Miss Emma wouldn’t talk about.  She came to town when I was three or four years old.  She bought the house she still lives in and has lived a quiet life.”

“There is something about Miss Emma that has aroused my curiosity.  I have been doing some work on her house and have noticed that every once in a while people drop by. One time I noticed her giving them an envelope.”

“It had money in it.  Miss Emma has been doing this for years.  It began when she worked at the library.  My mother noticed that every once in a while, Miss Emma would be assisting some patrons and would take them into one of the conference rooms.  She soon discovered that Miss Emma was helping out lots of people financially.  Mother didn’t know how she could manage it as library employees barely made enough to get by on.  I guess that when she retired she just kept doing it.  Some old maids feed cats.  Miss Emma helped people in need.” 

“Well, she really needs a lot of work done on her house and I hope she isn’t giving all her money away.” 

 Winter was setting in and  the most pressing needs on Miss Emma’s house were completed.  Roger remained concerned that Miss Emma was not saving her money as she should.  He also wondered if any of the people she had helped over the years had ever paid her back.  He decided to call Suzie’s mother to see if she might know any of the people Miss Emma had helped.  “You know, Roger, Miss Emma was very private and discrete with her charity.  I do remember that mother mentioned one time that Miss Emma met several times with the Severson’s.”

“Wow, they are quite prominent people.  I haven’t lived here that long and even I know about them.” 

Roger decided he would pay the Severson’s a visit.  Surely, if they know of Miss Emma’s situation they would be happy to help her.  He called Mark Severson and arranged for a meeting.  “Mr. Severson, thanks so much for meeting with me.  As I mentioned over the phone, it’s about Miss Emma Baldwin.   I don’t mean to be crass but have heard that there was a time when Miss Emma helped you out.” 

“I would ask you how you knew that but the fact is that you are right.  I was a young man with a family and lost my job.  My father developed mental problems and everything seemed to be falling apart.  I went to the library to look at job listings and also to research hospitals that might be able to help my father.  Miss Emma helped me find some resources. She could see the stress on my face.  Although I refused and refused, she gave me some money to help pay the mortgage and some bills.  I eventually got a job and wanted to repay her but she refused.  She said that she wanted to see my family do well.  Over the years, I kept trying to repay her but she always refused.” 

“Well, she could use some help now.”  Roger explained Miss Emma’s plight and Mark Severson was on board completely.” 

“Mr. Severson, I am going to do another crass thing.   Do you know of anyone else Miss Emma helped?” 

“I personally know two or three but am sure there are dozens of families she has helped over the years.  Let me work on this.”

Roger was excited that Mark Severson took everything so well.  The tricky part would be to get Miss Emma to accept the gratitude of many whom she had helped over the years.  Then one morning, Roger heard sirens.  He raced outside and saw an ambulance and a fire engine in front of Miss Emma’s house.  As he approached the house, he saw her sitting by the ambulance.  She was sitting on the trunk she kept in the living room of her house. 

“Miss Emma, are you okay.”

“Oh, Mr. Sawyer, I’m just fine.  I think it was an electrical fire.  They say it isn’t too bad.” 

Although she looked okay,  given the circumstances, she was faced away from the house. 

It was, indeed, an electrical fire, but the damage was confined to the kitchen.  Roger anticipated that Miss Emma would need a place to stay so she called Mrs. Benton.  “Oh my, yes.  She is more than welcome here.  Miss Emma did not want to impose on the Benton’s but Suzie’s mother could be quite persuasive.  Roger helped Miss Emma move some things she would need to the Benton’s.  He wanted to move the trunk to his house but Miss Emma insisted that it go with her.

Over the next few days, Miss Emma developed a cold and was housebound.  This was, in a way, fortunate as Roger, with Mark Everson’s help, enlisted the aid of a sizable number of workers to perform a small-scale “extreme makeover” for Miss Emma’s house.  In only three days, the damage from the fire was repaired, the wiring and plumbing brought up to code, a new roof placed on the house, several windows replaced, all the trim around the house repaired and painted, the floors refinished, the walls painted, and some new appliances installed.  Everything was kept modest and the house looked pretty much as it had, only fresher, and definitely improved.  In addition, dozens of families Miss Emma had helped sent her cards and cash repayment, often with interest.  Roger and Mark decided to keep these cards for a while as they knew that Miss Emma would balk at any idea of repayment.

On the fourth day after the fire, Miss Emma was well again and anxious to see her house.  At the same time, Suzie’s mother had the feeling that Miss Emma didn’t want to go back.  But she did return, and because nothing looked dramatically different, she smiled with relief.  The first thing she did was to make sure her trunk assumed its place in front of the living room window. 

There was no fanfare marking Miss Emma’s return.  “Roger, I cannot thank you enough.  And don’t worry, I shall pay you for every minute of labor and every stick and every drop of paint.  My, doesn’t the house look good.” 

Roger, Suzie and Suzie’s mother were the only ones present when she returned to the house.  Mark Everson promised to stop by in a week or so.  Miss Emma asked to be left alone in the living room for a while but not to leave.  So they all went to the kitchen.  They could hear Miss Emma sobbing but decided not to intrude on her privacy. 

After about thirty minutes, Miss Emma came to the kitchen.  “Can you all please come to the living room? There are some things I want to show you.” 

Roger and Suzie sat on a small sofa while Mrs. Benton and Miss Emma sat on side chairs.  Miss Emma’s chair was right by the trunk.  She bent over and slowly lifted the trunk lid.  The pungent aroma of mothballs immediately assaulted the noses of all in the room. The first thing she removed from the trunk was a framed family photo.  

“This is my family.  Forty years ago, I was a happy wife and mother.  I had a wonderful husband and two great children.  We had just settled into our ‘dream house’ when I received word that my mother was dying.  I took the bus from Pottersville, where we lived, to Masonville, one of the many places I had lived while growing up.  My mother hung on for about two weeks, and then passed away.  I was the only surviving family member, so it was up to me to settle her estate.  I met with the attorney on the afternoon following the funeral and burial.  I returned to the apartment where my mother lived to begin sorting things out.  She was a pack rat, so there were tons of things to go through. 

As I was going through some things, I received a call from my friend, Mary Winslow. ‘Emma, I am so sorry to hear of your mother’s passing.  I know that you two weren’t close, but she was still your mother.’ ‘Thank you so much, Mary.’  ‘I know that you are in the middle of things there but you should get home as soon as possible.’ ‘What’s the matter?  Is everyone okay?’ ‘I’ll explain things when you get home but try to get home as soon as possible.’ 

As soon as she hung up I phoned the attorney and explained that I needed to return home but that I would be back as soon as I could.  Fortunately, my mother’s rent was paid up for almost a month so I didn’t need to remove things from the apartment.  She had no friends that I could count on to help, so it would be up to me. I took a bus back to Pottersville and arrived late at night.  Mary met me at the station and insisted that I stop by her house.  I sensed something was terribly wrong.  When we arrived at Mary’s house, our minister and the chief of police met us.  I began to tremble and feel weak.  They helped me to a chair on the front porch.  ‘Emma,’ the minister said, ‘there was a terrible fire this morning at your house.  I'm afraid that your house is gone, and that your husband and children perished in the blaze.’  I dropped to the floor and banged my fists against the floor of the porch.  I wailed and wailed.  Mary Winslow, the minister, and the police chief let me wail for a while, and then gently picked me up and moved me into the house. 

‘I want to go to the house right now.  I want to be with my husband and children.’  They tried to convince me that the morning would be better but I was insistent.  So, they took me in the police chief’s car.  As soon as we arrived at the house I saw the charred embers.  Everything was gone.  I ran into the house and threw myself down and wept.  The house was wet and cold.  Mary Winslow, the minister, and the police chief stood at a distance.  I fell asleep.  When I awoke, the morning light was bright.  I realized that it was not a dream or nightmare.  I picked myself up and looked around.  My three dear allies were still there.  The police chief, Wallace Herndon, gently put his arm round my shoulder and led me to the front yard.  We all hugged and cried together.  The minister had been reading Bible passages all night long.  Mary took me to her house, and I took a long bath. 

The next three days were a blur to me.  I was numb with grief.  Memorial services were held.  I do not remember them.  An attorney helped me with the estate.  I remember nothing.  After about a week, my mind returned to me and Mary helped me put the pieces together.  A small memorial garden was being established by our church in honor of my family.   Of course, I thought nothing of my mother’s estate and never even returned to Masonville. 

When I felt like I could function, I took out a state map, closed my eyes, and placed my right index finger on the map.  It landed right on Watertown.  I met with the attorney, gave my thanks to Mary and the minister, as well as so many others that had supported me, and got in my car with just one suitcase and began to head down the two hundred miles from Pottersville to Watertown.  About three miles down the road, I remembered that the garage was not damaged.  There was something in it I wanted to take with me.  So I turned around and went back to the house. 

I tried not to look at the ruins of the house and headed decisively for the garage.  I opened the door and there is was.  There was a trunk in the corner.  I pulled it out of the garage and put it into the trunk of my car.  Of course, it was too big, so I found some rope to tie it down with. 

I also remembered that we had had a family photo made a week before I had left for Masonville.  I went by the photographer’s shop to see if it might be there.  The photographer expressed his condolences and presented me with a beautifully framed picture which he thoughtfully placed in a sturdy box.  He would not accept any payment.  I put the box on the back seat by my suitcase and headed down the road. 

I arrived in Watertown not knowing a soul.  I immediately went to a church, where I was most graciously received.  I found a small apartment and, after the estate was settled, found that I could purchase a small house. I got a job at the community library where I worked for almost thirty-five years."

Roger, Suzie, and Mrs. Benton looked tearfully at the photo of this beautiful family.  They listened attentively as “Miss” Emma continued her story.   She reached in the trunk and pulled out another box.  She opened it and everyone could see that it contained some letters. 

“My husband Ed was a most magnanimous person.  We were married for fourteen years.  Every year on my birthday, a letter from him would arrive in the mail.  It was the same letter but with a new sentence added each year.  He also sent me a letter on the anniversary of our wedding where he wrote out his part of our wedding vows. He also wrote letters to our daughter Shannon and our son Alec.”  Miss Emma smiled and almost laughed.  “Yes, our son was Alec Baldwin, too.  But, of course, much more handsome, charming, and intelligent!”  Everyone laughed. 

Miss Emma put the box to the side and carefully removed some clothes.  “Here is our Shannon’s first school frock –white with green trim to complement her beautiful red hair.  Everyone noticed how much Shannon resembled Miss Emma and how much Alec resembled his father, Ed.  “And here is Alec’s first pair of snow boots.  My, how he loved the snow!” 

She carefully removed some other small clothes and then looked down into the bottom of the trunk.  The others bent forward to look as well.  There were two medium-sized boxes.  “In those boxes are my wedding dress and the suit Ed wore when we were married.  They weren’t fancy but they were special.”  A small box was attached to both the larger boxes.  “That box contains our wedding rings.  I taped it there when I moved into my house in Watertown.”

Miss Emma carefully folded the clothes she had removed and placed them back in the trunk.  She also returned the box of cards.  She left the framed photo out.  “I can look at it now without weeping, only loving.”

Roger and Suzie soon left.  Mrs. Benton stayed to make sure Miss Emma would be okay.  She even invited her back to her house but Miss Emma said, “Thank you so much, but this is my house and I want to get back to living in it.  I’ll be fine.”

Over the coming weeks, Miss Emma would visit with the Benton’s and they, along with Roger and Suzie, would pay her a visit.  One evening as they arrived at Miss Emma’s house they noticed some people leaving the house.  Roger commented, “Well, I guess Miss Emma is really back home.”

As they sat on the front porch of Miss Emma’s house, Roger came out and said. “Miss Emma, I have noticed that you sometimes have visitors and seem to give them something.  What’s that all about?”  Of course, Roger and the others knew what it was about, or thought they did.

“Well Roger, in spite of the terrible things that happened a long time ago, my life has been blessed.”  Everyone thought she was referring to the tragic deaths of her husband and children, so they were stunned with what came from her mouth next.  “My mother and father were low-lifes.  There's no other way to put it.  They were master scammers and cons.  My older brother joined in and found himself in prison before he was eighteen.  My parents never visited him.  I knew I wanted no part of their life.  Fortunately, my father died of alcohol poisoning when he as only thirty.  I say fortunate, because he was a horrible person who beat us and made us feel like worthless worms.  My mother was attractive and played the role of the helpless, grieving widow to the hilt.  She was weak but cunning.  

I managed to stay in school, though we moved quite often.   After I finished high school I packed up and left. I moved from Masonville to Pottersville where I found a decent job and went to night school.  I was determined to live a good, honest life.  I started going to a church where the people were very kind to me.  As my parents had quite a reputation in the area, folks soon put two and two together and figured out that I was their daughter.  I sensed some tension in the air, so I knew that I either had to stay put and create my own reputation or move on and go through the same thing again.   The minister of the church and some congregants had heard of the rumors.  They spoke to me after church one Sunday and basically said to me:  ‘Emma, we think we know what you are going through and want you to know that we love you and feel that you are a wonderful young woman.’  I stayed, and the tension gradually abated. 

I met Ed Baldwin and immediately fell in love with him.  We courted for two years and, of course, I told him about my past.  We were married by the minister at the church and one of the congregants, Mary Bernard and her fiancé Marcus Winslow, stood up for us.   Shannon, my wild Irish rose, soon came along and then three years later, Alec, my wonderful Alec.  It was Ed who convinced me to reconnect with my mother.  I was concerned that she was so cunning that she would scam us, but I did reconnect.  She never came to our home but I visited her from time to time.  I never took Ed or the children.  She knew where she stood with me.  When she developed cancer, from years of non-stop smoking, I first thought she might be conning me.  I talked with her doctor and he convinced me that she was truly seriously ill.  However, she remained a con artist to the end and I had to be careful not to fall for her pleas of assistance.  That was so hard to do, but I could read her like a book.”

Miss Emma went on to explain that when she moved to Watertown from Pottersville, she resolved to help as many people as her parents had conned.  "Working in the library, I got to know most of the people in town.  Everyone went to the library in those days.  I’ll never forget the first time I saw this gentleman come to the library.  I had seen him there before, but he was always with his wife and children.  This time, he was by himself.  He was looking over the “Help Wanted” bulletin board and also asked me about references on mental homes.  I suppose I inherited my parents’ instinct for 'spotting a mark,' so I assisted him to the point where I felt he trusted me.  My intentions, of course, were to figure out a way to help him without hurting his pride.  By the third of fourth time he came in, he was ready for my help, and not just library help.  I gave him some money to help him and his family and insisted that it was a gift ,and not a loan.  My payback would be that he and his family would get back on their feet.  Over the years, I helped dozens of people in similar circumstances.  Ed left me financially secure and, as I lived frugally, my library salary went to helping others."

Roger and the others wondered how she managed not to get scammed, and asked her just that. 

“I grew up with scammers and cons -- not just my mother and father but everyone they associated with.  I even suspected my mother’s doctor of being a scammer, but miracle of miracles, he was an honest and sensitive man.  I would always get to know my 'marks' (she laughed) without them letting them know I was doing so.  If they were truly in need, their needs were almost always far more than they would let on. Scammers tend to pour it on thick. 

Although I made it clear that my gifts were private and discrete, word eventually got out.  People started coming to the library and seeking me out.  If it was just a man or woman, I felt better about them but would still look them straight in the eye and insist on several visits to talk with them about their situation.  Couples were more problematic.  My parents scored much better as a couple than on their own.  When my father died, my mother had to play the grieving widow with hungry mouths to feed.  The eyes usually reveal everything.  I have turned away far more people than I have helped.  But in a way, I helped the scammers as well as I usually mentioned them to the authorities.  Believe it or not, several of those scammers came back to me after some years to thank me for what I had done.  They turned their lives around.  Again, I could tell by their eyes if they were scamming me, and they never were.  I hope I'm not scaring you with all this talk of scamming and marks.  You know, it’s the quiet ones you need to keep an eye out for the most!”  She laughed.

“Enough about me and my past.  I moved here to have a future, not to relive a past.  Roger, I know your house is not what you want it to be for Suzie but I think you need to get married and start a family.  What do you think, Mrs.  Benton?"

“I couldn’t agree more!”

Within a month, Roger and Suzie were married.  They moved into the house and Roger continued to make it a home worthy of his bride.  Suzie’s father died, but not before seeing the happy couple welcome their first child.  It was a girl.  They named her Shannon Emma.  Two years later, they welcomed a second child whom they named Alec Edward.   Then came a third boy, who was named Roy Dell, after Suzie’s and Roger’s fathers.  Miss Emma continued to live for several years down the street.  She doted on the children.

When Miss Emma passed away, the entire town of Watertown showed up for her service.  Her many acts of kindness were related by dozens at the service, which lasted four hours.  At her request, her body was cremated.  She then requested that her ashes be placed in a flammable box in her beloved trunk.  The trunk was then burned and all of the ashes were taken to Pottersville where they were strewn over a small memorial garden that was created to honor the memory of Ed, Shannon, Alec, and now Emma Baldwin.  A fund for the garden was established by Mary Winslow, the minister of the church, and the police chief, along with the congregation and many townspeople.   Many people from Watertown would also contribute to the garden.  The metal framing of the trunk would come to serve as a headstone and topiary.   Every year, the Sawyer family travelled from Watertown to Pottersville to honor “Miss Emma.”  They also kept the Baldwin family portrait on the wall of their house.