A lady I won't forget

Two summers ago, money was tight--we were on a student budget. It is hard for most people to understand exactly what that means, even if they've been on a student budget. Unless they've done the D&T student budget plan. Just to give a little bit of perspective, we whittled our spending down to just basic needs--food, shelter, and transportation. After rent and utilities were paid, we had about $200 for our family per month, which we used to buy food and personal/household items, pay for car insurance and gas, and purchase any other needs. We didn't spend money on clothes, shoes, furniture, entertainment, or any other luxuries--and we gratefully accepted hand-me-downs from others. I'm not kidding when I say that I deliberated over every dollar I spent. And I will always be grateful that the Lord blessed us with all of our needs and many of our wants.

I knew that there was no way to further decrease our spending. D agreed. Unless we moved. We could move to a safe place and save a few hundred dollars per month--but we'd have to move out of state. So, for a variety of reasons (only one of which was financial), we moved for D's last year of med school. Moving does cost money, though. So almost two years ago, we were at the end of our funds (we took out a new loan for living expenses every six months). We had just moved, we had just paid $1000 for maternity insurance for me, and we had just purchased tickets (over $2200) so D could do a foreign medical rotation (and we could visit his parents) in Colombia.

We had a need--a stroller. I had a stroller for Squeak, and up to that point, I had been carrying 17-month-old Pip in a backpack, but I was 7 1/2 months pregnant. If you've been there, you know what I mean. I needed something compact but sturdy enough to make the trip and handle the Colombian sidewalks (if you've been there, you know what I mean!)--so a $10 umbrella stroller wouldn't work. I looked on Craigslist and KSL classifieds incessantly, trying to find a suitable option.

Miraculously, I found a Chicco umbrella stroller--perfect! And it was only $25!! I called the lady and she said it was practically unused--just occasionally for her granddaughter during visits. I was very excited, but also uneasy about driving 3 hours round-trip from Provo to Ogden to pick it up. The A/C in our car was broken (fixing it was a luxury we couldn't afford at the time), I was pregnant and hot (yesssss!), and it was July. Oh, yeah, and my kids don't do well in the car for more than about half an hour. I asked if she was ever closer to Provo (maybe meet in Salt Lake?) and she said she was planning to visit a relative in Provo that weekend and she'd be happy to bring it down. She even insisted on dropping it off at my house!

We had agreed on a meeting time for Friday morning. I took the kids for a little run that day, arranging to be back before she arrived, but just in case, I left a note on the door saying I'd be right back. When I returned from my run a few minutes early, I discovered that she had also arrived early. She'd left the stroller on my front porch with a note: "Free, with my regards." Her name was Pam. I rushed into the house, called the number I had for her, got her voice mail, left a message and told her thank you, and I'd be happy to mail her the money. I never heard back from her. I tried calling again, but she never returned my calls. When I told my mother-in-law about the miracle of our stroller and how much I'd like to pay Pam for it, she said, "Maybe she doesn't want your money. Maybe she wants to do an anonymous act of service." Two years later, I still cry as I remember her kindness. How did she know that we were so in need? I got my answer when I read this post about Pam on our cousin's blog. She was just one of those angels who goes about doing good. I never got to meet her in person, but I will never forget her.

I look totally awesome in this photo (we woke up at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight), but here's Pam's stroller (the blue one)