To Love, Honor and Cherish
Timothy Paterson
Copyright 2012 Timothy Paterson
Chapter 1
“What a dreary day?” thought Joe, as he drove through downtown San Francisco. It was Saturday, November 3rd and it was colder than usual for that time of year. It had started out as a sunny day, but it had been raining for an hour or so. The rain was coming down in buckets as Joe arrived at the diner.
Joe noticed two children standing in front of the diner, trying to shelter themselves from the cold wind and rain, by standing under the canopy. Joe noticed that they were both drenched and shivering and neither of them was wearing a coat. Joe parked the car, grabbed an extra jacket out of the back seat, and headed toward the front of the diner.
Joe invited the two children to come in to have lunch with him and get out of the rain. He gave the spare jacket to the girl and then removed his own jacket and gave it to the boy. They both appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old. Joe invited the two of them to have lunch with him. They immediately accepted his offer. They were both so famished, that they were well into their second servings, before they remembered to thank Joe for the meal.
As they were finishing their dessert and drinking hot chocolate, the two children introduced themselves to Joe. Mary was thirteen and her brother Matt was eleven. As they began to feel more comfortable, they began to tell Joe about themselves and their family. They lived with their mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Rogers and four more brothers; Mark was eight, Luke- six John – four, and Paul – two. Their mother was pregnant with one more child.
As the Mary and Matt continued, Joe was shocked by their tragic story. Five months earlier, their father, James Rogers had embezzled money from the accounting firm where he was employed, to pay off some gambling debts. After that, he cleaned out the family’s checking and savings accounts and disappeared one night. They had not heard from him since.
Betty could not support the family on just her salary as a nurse and she discovered that Jim had not paid the mortgage for the last three months before he left. Betty was not able to come up with the money and the bank took their house from them. Betty thought that it might be better for all of them if they left Los Angeles and started a new life somewhere else. Therefore, they took what few belongings they had not sold to pay bills, and they moved to San Francisco.
Betty got a job at St. Luke’s Hospital working in the Intensive Care Unit. She found a three-bedroom apartment that she could afford. It was very crowded, but it would have to do until they could afford something larger.
After paying the rent and utilities, there was not much left over for food and clothing. Betty hated seeing her children living in such poverty and she despised her husband for abandoning them.
After Mary and Matt had finished their dessert and hot chocolate, they said they had to get home before their mother started worrying. The rain was still coming down pretty hard and Joe didn’t want them standing in it while waiting for a bus. He also knew that they might feel uncomfortable if he offered to drive them home. Even though Joe was only seventeen, he was still a stranger to the children.
Joe was considering sending them home in a cab, when he saw a police officer paying for his lunch. Joe knew Officer Reuben Peterson and he approached the officer and asked him if he would give the kids a ride home. Reuben told Joe that he would be glad to do it.
Joe reached into his pocket, pulled out several hundred-dollar bills, and handed them to Officer Peterson. “Give this money to their mother. I know she can use the assistance,” said Joe. “She may try to refuse it, but tell her it is for her children. I’m confident that she’ll accept it then”.
Mary and Matt shook Joe’s hand and thanked him again, before they got in to the squad car, and then they were gone.
Betty Rogers was beginning to worry. Mary and Matt were supposed to have been home over an hour ago. Betty wanted her children to have some independence and have some fun as well. Matt and Mary had asked to take the bus downtown and look in the store windows and go to the park.
The business district was in a safe part of town and she trusted her kids to run into a store, if they felt threatened. When they left that morning, it was not as cold and it was not raining. The kids were not wearing jackets, and Betty was afraid that they had been caught outside in the rainstorm.
While Betty was looking out the window, she saw a squad car pull up in front of their apartment. Mary, Matt and a police officer all got out and walked towards the door. Betty had a terrified look on her face as she opened the door. Before she could say anything, Officer Peterson informed her that the kids were ok and they were not in any kind of trouble.
Mary explained about being caught in the downpour, and about Joe buying them lunch. Betty started to scold them for talking to a stranger. Officer Peterson explained that Joe was concerned that they would get sick from standing out in the cold rain, and he meant them no harm. “Joe Williams is okay. I’ve known him for several years,” said Officer Peterson. “His parents were killed in an automobile accident about five months ago. He is trying to get on with his life as best as he can”.
Officer Peterson handed Betty the money that Joe had given to him. Betty saw that there was over a thousand dollars. As Joe had predicted, she tried to refuse it, but Officer Peterson told Betty that Joe wanted her to use the money to buy food and clothes for her kids.
“Joe can afford to give this to you,” said Reuben. “His parents left him more than enough money to live on. Joe is a very generous and giving person with a good heart”.
Betty was overwhelmed with emotion. She knew that the kids were not getting enough to eat and she often went without so that they could eat. She thanked Officer Peterson and told him to ask Joe to visit so that she could thank him appropriately. After the officer was gone, Betty sat down on the couch. As she looked at the money in her hands, she began to cry. She had been praying for a miracle to help her family and her prayers had been answered.
Later that afternoon, as Joe was driving home, he passed Officer Peterson, who gestured for Joe to pull over into a parking lot. After they got out of their cars, Reuben told Joe about his conversation with Betty Rogers. “That was a fine thing that you did for those kids and their family, Joe,” he said. “They can sure use the money. They live in a very small apartment and are barely getting by”.
“Mrs. Rogers was very grateful for what you did to help her children as well as for the money you gave them. She wants you to drop by their apartment so that she can thank you properly”. Reuben wrote down the address and phone number, and handed the paper to Joe.
Before Reuben got into his patrol car, he put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and said, “Your parents would be very proud of you Joe. I know I am.”
As Joe drove home to his big empty house, he started thinking about his parents and eyes filled with tears. He missed them so much. Joe thought back to that fateful day of June 20th. It was his 17th birthday. He had just arrived home after getting off work and he found Officer Peterson and another officer waiting for him. They informed Joe that his parents had been killed in an automobile accident that afternoon.
Joe was devastated. He and his parents were very close and they were the only family he had. At age 17, Joe was all alone.