NOT Jack-the Ripper...

The entirety of this post is not only to highlight an exceptional person who performed an act of kindness, but also to make a point that God DEFINITELY has a sense of humor... It's the beginning of September of last year (2014), it is late at night and I am needing to go out to the grocery store. I am dragging my feet because 1. I have a newly injured foot that just that day got put into a boot and hurts like crazy, and 2. I am a tad bit paranoid about parking lots at late night hours (I am from Las Vegas folks...'nuff said). So as part of my procrastination, I begin telling some of the stories of why I am paranoid to begin with (my parents were very proactive about letting me know true stories of things that have happened and how to protect myself from them so I could have some street smarts as a teen--which totally worked btw--but also made me kinda hyper-paranoid). There is in particular one story where a man targeted women in parking lots that always bothered me, so I have always been a keys-in-hand, well-lit-spot, be-aware-of-surroundings,check-the-back-seat kinda gal, but as I related the story that evening, it was giving me the heebie-jeebies, and I still had to go out. I finally get to the store, well past midnight, intending to only grab a couple of things and get out of there as quickly as possible. I glance at the handi-cap wheel-chair/cart-thing and consider it for a half-second before my pride says "heck no!" and I walk on. The items I need are at the back of the store, and about half way back I realize I am never going to make it; it seems the walking boot they put me in has aligned my foot in such a way that I am walking directly on the injury and the pain is so bad I can't take a full step on it anymore. It's now too far for me to go back for the handi-cart, and I am in so much pain I don't know what to do. I decide that since I am half way there I am just going to have to tough it out and somehow make it. My first solution is to put most of my weight on my arms and use the cart like a walker to put as little pressure on that foot as possible...this works for a while until my arms are shaking (that cart is a whole lot taller than a walker folks!). Next, I try hopping on the good foot as I push the cart (yep, that didn't last too long either--but I'm pretty sure the people there got some good entertainment). At this point my arms and good foot are tired, and I am in I'm-going-to-fight-the-tears-back kind of pain, so I hang part of my upper body over the push bar of the cart and use my good foot to just push me along (at this point y'all are wishing you were there to see this...). I somehow manage to get my stuff and check out, and as I am leaving, my sixth sense tells me that a gentleman I saw a few times in the store is behind me at a distance. Now, I wasn't in so much pain that my conversation from earlier that evening wasn't still fresh in my mind, so I am keeping him in my peripheral view as I scout out witnesses and good lighting and quickly locate the panic button on my keys as he continues to follow me towards my vehicle. I quickly unlock my car and unload groceries at record-breaking speed, only to glance up and see that the man is now only a few feet away...my heart about stops as he reaches out his hand and begins to speak...It goes something like this "Uh, can I take your cart back for you? I saw you in the store and you looked like you were really struggling and in pain...I would have approached you there and like offered to carry you or something except I was pretty sure you would like try to punch me or something, so I thought I should just make sure you made it to your car ok and safe and all..." As he put away the cart he noticed my husbands (BYU) license plate cover and asked about the school and if we were Mormon; when I confirmed, he told me he was too and that he had just started going to a new building and we discovered it was my exact congregation...yep, my would-be-imaginary-serial-murderer, turned out to not only be a thoroughly nice fellow, but a new member of my church family...go figure. I'm pretty sure God got a good chuckle out of that one...