The Old Black Woman That Broke My Heart

I remember it was a rainy Friday. Just like today.

I was alone at work and this sweet, old black woman stopped in with a video tape. She wanted a copy of it and asked if I could make her one. It was a slow day and I told her that I could do it immediately. She asked if she could wait. I told her that she could, but it takes real time to copy a video tape and if the tape is long it could be a while.

That didn't bother her. She asked if she could watch the tape as I was copying it. I said yes and I went and got her a chair.

This made her smile. She told me her son had died a week ago and this video tape was all she had left of him. She said all she wanted to do was to see his face and hear his voice.

She was sad, but sweet. I was happy to help her.

I got everything ready and I started to record her tape. Her late son was not on it. Instead someone had taped a football game over the footage of her boy. When she realized what had happened she started to cry.

I think of her from time to time and hope that she has found some peace.