Many of us, regardless of our age, will talk about the good old days. These are the times in our life that seem to be better than the times we are living now. Perhaps we were younger, stronger, or maybe our circumstances were better than the situation we are in today. In many cases, the good old days weren’t really all that good but we do have a bit of nostalgia when we look back on them. We tend to think about the good times and not necessarily about the bad times. There are also times in which the good old days are exactly what we think they are, days to look back on and smile.
When a construction project was taking place outside of a nursing home, the man who operated the crane, Shawn, noticed that there was a man who would come out in his wheelchair every day and sit to watch them working. He would sit there all day from the time they got started until the time they stopped. If you’ve ever worked construction work, you realize that it is a long, difficult day but Shawn couldn’t help but wonder what the old man was doing. In fact, he decided to go over and meet him and find out what was going on.
What he learned was that the man’s name was Harold and he ran a crane when he was younger on a construction site. These days, he is spending his time at the nursing home but he was able to relive his days on the construction site by talking to Shawn and by watching everything that happened.
Shawn was able to get something out of it as well. Not only did he talk to the man, he befriended him and visited him every day. He even found out that the man had not had visitors in seven years. Shawn even bought him lunch two days a week! It helped to give Harold the opportunity to relive a time in his life that he loved and to feel a little bit better about himself in the process.