The Good Samaritan of 1932

The Good Samaritan of 1932

During the Great Depression, cotton mills were only operating one or two days per week.  That really didn't matter since my grandparents were blackballed for participating in the Loray Mill strike of 1929.  They couldn't find work at any of the mills in the southeast.  Desperate to provide for their family, they decided to try their hand at farming in Great Falls, South Carolina.  They weren't very successful, so my grandmother agreed to let Daddy work for her brother clearing land in Clover, South Carolina.  She knew he would send money home--and that was one less mouth to feed.   

Daddy was thirteen years old.  Times were desperate, and people were struggling to feed their families.  No money was available to clothe their growing children.  Daddy had no socks.  Since he had outgrown his shoes, the toes had been cut out, offering no protection from the cold.  

It was winter and Clover was about sixty miles away.  His mode of travel was to hitchhike and walk.  He had breakfast at daybreak and set out--without a cent to his name.  He caught a few rides, but he must have done more walking than riding, since it was about 5 p.m. when he finally reached Clover.  All he knew was that his uncle was living in the old Oakridge Schoolhouse in the Bethel area near Clover, SC.  After asking directions of someone he met on the street, he was sent in the wrong direction.  By the time he retraced his steps and returned to Clover, it was dark.  There were no street lights, and no traffic on the road. 

The roads leaving Clover were unpaved, and after walking about a mile, he came to a store.  It was closed, but the merchant lived in a house next door.  When the man answered the door, Daddy asked for directions to the old schoolhouse.  He was extremely tired, hungry, and thirsty--not having eaten since early morning.  Gaining courage since the store owner seemed kind, Daddy asked if he could spare a leftover biscuit from supper.  At the mention of food, the man's attitude changed.  He said, "No!", and sent Daddy on his way. 

He was lost!  As he grew weaker, it became cloudier and colder.  Up ahead on the right, there was a house with the lights still on.  This time, after knocking on the door, a woman peeked through a crack in the door.  He told her his name and asked if she knew his uncle.  Through the door, she said she knew the family but didn't know where they lived.  Actually, she was the teacher of Uncle Vic's daughter.  Desperately hungry, again he asked for food.  She said she had none to give, so he thanked her and kept on walking.   

About a quarter of a mile later, he came to another house with a light on.  He almost didn't stop, but because he had come to a crossroad and had no idea which way to go, he went to the door.  This time the door was answered by a man.  When Daddy asked for directions the man said, "Yeah, I know Mr. Davis.  He is a hard-working man, and honest.  Listen, you told me you came a long way.  Why don't you come in and spend the night with us and get an early start in the morning.  I can tell you in the morning how to get there. You'll be more rested", he insisted, and "it's getting cold out there and you might catch your death with pneumonia."

Hesitantly, Daddy went in.  The man's wife and small child had already gone to bed.  There was a fire going in the fireplace.  He told Daddy his name was Frank Meek.  He asked him to pull off his shoes and warm his feet by the fire while he went into the kitchen to warm up some supper.  Almost seventy years later, Daddy said, "Man, it sure hit the spot!"   By then it was 10:30 or 11 p.m., and the man led him to a room with a bed and nice, clean sheets.  When he woke the next morning, Mr. Meek's wife was cooking him breakfast.  

Choking back tears while retelling this story, Daddy's said:  "To think of that man, even now...that man was a saint!  Before I left that morning, he brought me a pair of brand new socks.  That's what you call Christianity!"  After instructing him exactly how to get to his uncle's house, he sent Daddy on his way.

Overnight... three inches of snow had fallen.  When I get to heaven one day, I can't wait to meet Mr. Frank Meek.  If not for him, I might never have been born.

Luke 10:30-37 --- The Good Samaritan

³⁰ Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹ And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”   

Copyright 2011 Charlotte Laney