OF A GOLDEN AGE

In this week’s “Modern Love” column in the New York Times, a woman gets reacquainted with her mentally disabled brother and must help from a distance when he gets lost at a faraway airport once he returns home:

And then I thought of the only person I knew in Boston with whom I had had any contact, my senior-year prom date. Bill had been more a friend rather than a boyfriend, and he had known my mother, my sisters and [my brother] John. A few times, he and his wife had unexpectedly taken John to dinner.

“Bill,” I said, “It’s Lorna. I’m so, so sorry to wake you up. I have an emergency. I don’t know what to do. I need some help.” I explained the situation and, yes, dear reader, I asked this guy I barely knew anymore if he would get out of bed, get dressed, drive 45 minutes to the airport, pick up my brother, take him to his home and host him overnight until we could solve the problem the next day. He agreed.

Bill picked up John. By now it was 1 a.m. My brother ended up sleeping on his couch. The next day, St. Joan sorted out the baggage issues and got John safely home. I think I sent Bill a fruit basket. What I had asked was well beyond the call of anyone’s duty. Sometimes people just do the right thing, and we don’t know why. They just do.

You know, this is why we all keep going.

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