An Amazing Holiday Story

This photo is an amazing story.  Please read to the end.

 

Some of you know that my sister Deanne or Dede and her friend Lisa were killed by a drunk driver in Palm Springs in 1984.  Somehow I feel as if she is always with me.  

 

Today after bringing my friend Will home and on my way to shopping I was driving down Monroe Street, a fairly busy road, in Indio and saw this woman with no shoes, in a hospital gown staggering across the street.  I decided to pull into a parking lot at a church and park my car to see if I could help.  I walked out to the road and asked the woman if she needed help.  She asked me to help her onto the curb which I did. She couldn't really stand and was on all fours, seemingly in pain.   I started questioning her and found that she had left the hospital on Monroe after having x-rays, because the wait was too long.  Another man also seeing this woman came over and as we listened to her, with no money, no id, barefoot and in a hospital gown we decided to try to help.  The other man called the Indio police and they sent over a paramedic team from the hospital in a huge red ambulance.  The paramedics helped her across the street, in front of the hospital and put her on a bench in a bus shelter.  They told her that she had left the hospital willingly, signed a form, and there was nothing more that they could do.  They said Happy Holidays and left.

 

As I was now on the phone speaking with a mental health hospital who said that they couldn't help, I noticed an Indio police car starting to pull out onto the street from the hospital.  I motioned for the officer to come over which he did.

 

Officer Kyle Lawrence started talking to the woman and asked her where she was going, what she was doing, etc.  The woman said that she wanted to take a bus, not sure where.  The officer said you don't have any money how will you take a bus.  She said that she would pan handle.  The Officer said I can take you to Martha's Kitchen, a local non-profit, or the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission, which is a homeless shelter.  The woman said I've been evicted from Martha's Kitchen and I don't want to go to the Shelter.  The Officer said I can't leave you out here because you are not safe.  The woman finally relented and said I will go with you to the Rescue Mission.  The other man and I were both very happy and told the woman that she made the right decision.  Office Lawrence, a young man, was incredible in talking to this woman!  I was in awe of how he truly wanted to help.

 

The woman's name, which she told me when I helped her onto the curb... was Dede.  I don't often meet people who are named Dede.  To have this happen in Indio, not far from Palm Springs made me think about my sister and how she must have been telling me to help this Dede.

 

Happy Holidays. Let's strive to help one another more and not leave anybody out in the cold!