One Good Turn Deserves Another

I came across a story on the internet a couple of months ago about an American Surgeon Dr Howard Kelly. It is supposedly a true story but has been embellished over the years to magnify the point: a very salient message about helping others.

The Glass of Milk

The gist of the story goes like this:

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided to ask for a meal at the next house.

However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry, so she brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it so slowly and then asked,

“How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for kindness.”

He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As the boy left that house, he felt not only physically stronger but also had a strong faith in God and man. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Many years later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he paid special attention to her case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested that the business office pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room.

She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all.

Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”

(Signed)

Dr. Howard A. Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes with his generosity and she recalled the day she had given the little boy the glass of milk.

Howard Kelly was a famous and well-respected surgeon and one of the founding four members of Johns Hopkins Medical Research University. Over his career, he advanced our knowledge of gynecology and surgery. He was also a deeply religious man, but he was unlikely to have been poor and required to work his way through school.

The moral of the story

I don’t know about you, but when I read this, even if it is not true but a parable of sorts, it makes me feel good. It is always refreshing to have something jolt you to the realization that not everyone in the world is bad and that there are some good, ethical, kind people around.

In the Hindu and Buddhist faiths, it is called karma.

A person is repaid for their actions at some later stage in their life.

Looking at this story from an ethical perspective, the lady’s ethical behavior was greatly appreciated by the small boy. At a later stage in their lives, the boy repaid the debt through his own ethical actions.

Isn’t ethics also about ‘doing the right thing, doping unto others as you would want them to do to you’?

My true life ‘glass of milk’

The story reminded me of an incident when I was about eight. In those days, I traveled to school on a bus and then a train.

On this particular Friday, we were invited to my grandmother’s house for dinner. I was given specific instructions on how to get there from my school, which involved taking a bus to her suburb and then walking the road to her home.

I set off from school with trepidation; I was eight years old!!! Somewhere along the way, the directions went a bit astray, and I found myself at the end of the route in the city center.

I was petrified.

I had no money for another bus ride and didn’t have any idea where I was going to go anyway, except to get back on the same bus, and hope that this time I got it right.

I stopped dead in my tracks and started to cry uncontrollably.

A lady waiting at the bus stop saw me crying and approached me to see if she could help. After I told her my story in between my deep sobs, she took my hand, and we both got back on the bus.

In this day and age, I could have been destined for a ditch beside the road for all I knew. This kind lady took me back to the bus stop where I was supposed to get off, and I recognized the junction that I had been through several times in my parents’ car immediately.

The lady kissed me on the head and said, “You are a brave little boy. Never be afraid to ask for help.”

I never saw that lady again, but when I read the story of the glass of milk, I would like to think, I would have been able to return the favor to her in some way.

One good turn deserves another and kindness does not always have to cost a lot; even a glass of milk can do.

Till next time, thanks for reading my story,

Calvin

[Originally published in Reaching Hearts. All rights reserved Calvin London 2024.]