My good deed of the day

Today, I went for a walk and when I got onto the main street, I passed an old lady who was ambling down the sidewalk like she was out for a little stroll. As I looked back to say "Excuse me," she stopped me and asked, "Are you going home from work?" Since I was dressed in a t'shirt, running shoes, capris, with a baseball cap, I obviously wasn't going home from work. She seemed really confused about where she was and as I talked to her, it quickly became apparent that she was VERY lost and needed help. She kept talking about needing to find people who were looking at "little things that go on the ground by wa-t-er . . . " she mumbled some words and then stopped and tried walking again. I stopped her before she crossed a bank's driveway and kept her talking. She wanted to call a taxi to go up by the zoo to go home but she needed to find a phone and there were people waiting at the school, so maybe she could just go to a store and sleep while she waited for them to find her. . .

At this point, I decided that I'd go with her to the senior care center just on the other side of where I live to use the phone on the off-chance she didn't "escape" from the place as I was suspecting. I kept her steady on the curbs as we walked back up the street towards the care facility. She kept talking about needing to make a phone call and whining about how she doesn't know what to do and where to go.

As we walked across the lawn to the care facility, she suddenly seemed more calm and kept walking but complaining about how she's really tired and didn't think she could make it. I kept encouraging her to keep going and I finally get her inside to the receptionist's desk. There, she asks the lady behind the desk, "Did my son call about the number?" I'm standing there waiting for recogniztion from the receptionist as she answers the question like it's most perfectly normal question in the world. Finally, she looks up at me and I ask, nodding towards the older lady "Does she belong here?"

She lady's eyes suddenly open wide, her jaw drops, and she gasps out, "Yes. She belongs here. Where did you find her?"
"I found her walking out on the sidewalk on the street."
"What? She was WHERE?!" She suddenly pops out of her seat, opening and dailing her cell phone, and walking around the separating wall towards me, all at the same moment
"Um, I found her by the bank," I answer, pointing in the general direction of the bank, "She was almost to the corner up there."
"Oh, dear." At this point, she's by the old lady's side patting her shoulder. Then, as I start walking back to the front door, she turns and quietly asks, "How did you know to bring her here? How did you know?"
I shrugged as I walked by the two women, my thoughts racing as to why I actually DID know to bring her here, but I just smiled and silently went on.

As I turned at the door, the receptionist had started walking the older lady to a chair, talking softly to her, asking her about her little walk and offering her a drink and a snack. She glanced up at me one last time, smiled and nodded, letting me know that I had done a good deed for the day.