When I think of working on a project, I don’t expect a person to be standing over my shoulder once I’ve started. But when you’ve been through the tragedy of a hurricane and people are cheating you left and right I can understand why 80-year-old Mrs. Smith never left my side.

When a group of four people who traveled with us from Kentucky asked me to help them with painting at a ladies house, I was not about to turn them down. Who doesn’t like to paint? Once I start I find it hard to stop, but when I got to the small house with a brand new wall that needed to be painted I was at a loss for words.

Mrs. Smith and her daughter had lived in this house for years and three of their rooms had been completely wrecked by the storm. Painting to me didn’t seem like a big deal, but to the 60-year-old daughter is was a late Christmas present. She has been sleeping on the couch since the storm, unable to use her destroyed room.

The fact that Mrs. Smith and her daughter would never leave my side was quite intimidating. I was afraid to make the tiniest mistake or drip even the tiniest drop of paint, but at the end of the day, Mrs. Smith walked up to me and gave me the biggest hug. “You will never understand the difference you have made in my life,” she told me. “I have been so worried about getting my house fixed that I have put off open heart surgery for six months.” Mrs. Smith has had three heart attacks in the past couple months and is finally having surgery next week. Finishing this house could be her last present to her daughter.

Although Mrs. Smith told me I would never understand how much I have touched her life, I also think it goes the other way. This old lady who watched my every move was just protecting everything she had and maybe even giving her daughter the last present she will ever give. This lady will always remain in my prayers and in my heart.

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