A poor mother of quintuplets gets a pleasant surprise when she runs out of money at the grocery store and a stranger rushes to her rescue.
Rachel Wilson and her husband Jack were overjoyed to find out they were expecting quintuplets. They had been trying to conceive for years, and now that they were blessed with five children at once, their joy could not be contained.
Jack Wilson was a truck driver with a steady income, so Rachel could easily quit her job when the kids came to take care of her. For four years everything went smoothly; Rachel and Jack didn’t expect any problems. But they came and Rachel didn’t know what to do.
One morning Jack left the house and never came back. It was their wedding day and Rachel had tried to stop him because she wasn’t feeling good. But Jack had convinced her. “Don’t worry honey. I’ll be home on time, I promise.”
But he didn’t keep his promise. Later that evening, the police called Rachel and informed her that Jack had died in an accident. The young widow sobbed endlessly, but that didn’t change anything. Jack was gone and she had to take on the role of head of household.
Since her children were only four years old, she could not leave them at home alone. A nanny was out of the question because of her meager savings and she had no income. She couldn’t ask her neighbors for help either, because they were anything but friendly.
Unable to even adequately mourn the loss of her husband, the distraught Rachel instead devoted herself to working to support her children. She started knitting scarves and hats and selling them, but she had problems in the summer. Her talent no longer helped her and she lacked money.
One day she was in the supermarket to buy birthday presents for her children, but the prices made her raise her eyebrows. “When did the price of cocoa powder go up like that? €5 for a small pack?! Oh man I’m not even halfway through and I’m down to €50. Geez. I have a few things to put away.”
She put the cocoa back and got cheap chocolate chip cookies for the cake. She reached for candy as her son Max insisted. “Mom! Can you get some snacks, please? Please?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Rachel paused, “sweets aren’t good for you. Uncle Doctor says candy is bad for your teeth. It’s a bit pricey, too, and Mom has to make you a birthday cake, so I have to buy ingredients for it .”
But the 4-year-old didn’t understand any of this. He started crying loudly, which drew the attention of other customers. “No Mommy! I want it! I WANT CANDY!”
“Yes Mommy! We want candy too. PLEASE!” the other four boys yelled in unison.
Rachel almost had a panic attack in the store as everyone stared at her and she had to give in to her kids. But when she got to the checkout, more trouble awaited her.
“How hard can it be to check the prices in front of the checkout?” grumbled the cashier Lucy. “You’re missing €10, so I have to save some things.” She grabbed the chocolate chip cookies, the candy bars, and a few other items and began typing the cancellation, but Rachel stopped her.
“Oh, please, don’t take the things. Um… let’s do it this way. I’ll put the bread back and…” Rachel started searching through the things and putting items back.
Sometimes help comes from unexpected quarters.
Meanwhile, Max strolled to the aisle where the milk was, but Rachel was too busy to notice. He was turning the corner when he met an elderly lady. “Hello there. I’m Mrs. Simpson and what’s your name? And what are you doing here alone?” she asked softly and smiled at him.
“Hello Mrs. Simpson. I’m Mac and I’m four years old. How old are you?”
The older woman blushed. “I’m a bit older than you, Max. Let’s say 70? Where’s your mom?”
“Mom is arguing with a woman. She says Mom doesn’t have enough money and we have to leave things here.”
“Oh, is that true?” Mrs Simpson asked concerned. “Can you take me to your mama?”
The boy nodded and hurried to the register with Mrs. Simpson. Lucy got impatient and snapped at Rachel. “Look, good lady, if you can’t afford these things, don’t even come here! Get out! Other customers are waiting too!” She pushed Rachel’s bag aside and waved to the next customer. “Next please””
“No, please, wait…” Rachel had just started when his voice interrupted her.
“You don’t have to put anything back. Your bill is already paid!” Mrs Simpson approached Lucy and handed her her credit card. “Calculate everything, including the things you put back. It’s on me.”
“Oh, no, please,” Rachel interjected, “I can’t accept that. It’s okay.”
“It’s okay,” the older woman insisted, and Rachel gave in to her.
On the way out of the supermarket, Rachel couldn’t stop thanking her. “Thank you very much for your help. I can’t give you the money right away, but please come and see us. Here’s my address,” she said, handing her a piece of paper on which she scribbled her address. “I’d like to take you out for tea and biscuits. I make really delicious biscuits.”
“Oh, that’s really sweet of you, young thing,” she replied, “see you soon, Max! Bye, boys!” With these words she left.
The boys waved goodbye, but Rachel was stunned when Mrs. Simpson mentioned Max’s name. “Do you know Mrs. Simpson, Sparrow?” she asked Max calmly.
“Yes mommy! I told her you were having a fight so she helped you.”
“Oh, she’s such a good-natured woman!” Rachel thought as they walked to the car.
The next day there was a knock at the door. “Oh Mrs. Simpson! Please come in. You’ve come at just the right time! I was just baking cookies,” Rachel said, ushering the lady in.
When she sat down, Rachel brought her biscuits and a cup of tea. “Oh, you didn’t have to go through such trouble,” she replied, reaching for the teacup. “Do you live alone with your children?”
“My husband died last year, so now I’m raising the kids alone. Unfortunately, I don’t have a job right now, so I’m short on cash. I made money knitting sweaters and hats for a while, but nobody buys those things in the summer and I’m still looking for work.”
“If so, why don’t you work in my clothing store?” the elderly lady suggested. “I need an assistant and would love to have you on the team. Don’t worry, I can take care of your children for you. My husband died many years ago and we never had children. So now I’m just an old woman who passes the days counts until God takes them.””Wenn das so ist, warum arbeitest du nicht in meinem Bekleidungsgeschäft?”, schlug ihr die ältere Dame vor. “Ich brauche eine Assistentin und hätte dich gerne im Team. Keine Sorge, ich kann mich für dich um deine Kinder kümmern. Mein Mann ist vor vielen Jahren gestorben und wir hatten nie Kinder. Jetzt bin ich also einfach eine alte Frau, die die Tage zählt, bis Gott sie zu sich holt.”
“My goodness, Mrs. Simpson!” Rachel exclaimed. “How can I repay you for that kindness? Thank you! Oh, thank you!””Meine Güte, Frau Simpson!”, rief Rachel. “Wie kann ich Ihnen diese Freundlichkeit zurückzahlen? Danke! Oh, vielen Dank!”
“You can pay it back, my dear,” smiled Mrs. Simpson, “you just have to make me a nice cup of tea every night. What do you think?””Du kannst es zurückzahlen, meine Liebe”, lächelte Frau Simpson, “du musst mir nur jeden Abend eine schöne Tasse Tee machen. Was meinst du?”
“Of course!” Rachel said as she wiped her tears. She started working in Mrs. Simpson’s shop the next day, worked hard for months, and finally got a promotion.”Natürlich!”, sagte Rachel, als sie sich die Tränen abwischte. Sie begann am nächsten Tag, in Frau Simpsons Geschäft zu arbeiten, strengte sich monatelang tüchtig an und wurde schließlich befördert.
One day, while showing Ms. Simpson her designs, the lady advised her to start her own business on the side and encouraged her to share pictures of her work on social media.Als sie Frau Simpson eines Tages ihre Entwürfe zeigte, riet die Dame ihr, nebenbei ihr eigenes Geschäft aufzubauen und ermutigte sie, Bilder ihrer Arbeiten in den sozialen Medien zu teilen.
You won’t believe it but Rachel’s designs went viral all over social media and a famous designer offered her a job. But Rachel died because she didn’t want to give up her job with Mrs. Simpson. She now lives with Mrs Simpson and their children call the lady Grandma out of sheer affection.
What can we learn from this story?
Sometimes help comes from unexpected quarters. When Rachel ran out of money, Mrs Simpson stepped in to help her.
kindness is like a boomerang; it always comes back to you in some form. Mrs. Simpson was left alone after the death of her husband, but after helping Rachel, she gained a loving family and five adorable grandchildren.