“It was an important afternoon!” – Lorraine Broderick

An Important Afternoon

“It was 1943.” Lorraine said.  “I remember thinking, why didn’t I have anybody?  When momma and daddy died in the car accident, I should have died too!”

Lorraine Broderick was talking about how we all look foolish at one time or another.  This was one such time for her.  It was one of those days when she was feeling alone and, well, blind because for some reason she had forgotten one important afternoon!  

“I remember stubbornly dwelling on the thought, that I didn’t I have anybody of significance in my life?”  Lorraine stopped, sort of reminisced vacantly, and then continued her story.  “At the moment of my deepest despair, a pivitol instant, I had another thought.  One that overtook that painful, stubborn one.” 

At the peak of her pain, this other thought opened the door for her to be released and travel psychologically.  In the blink of an eye she was back on a street near her childhood home in Hartford, Connecticut in 1943.  That was the day she met John Smith, a newspaper-stand attendant just down the road from where she lived.

“I bought a paper from him for a nickel.  He had tobacco juice on his lips.  But, I talked to him because he was so nice to me.  He told me all about selling papers.”  She reflected with tears welling up in her eyes.   “He said I was very nice.  He asked me my name and where I lived.  We talked about school and growing up.  And, just before we parted he told me I’d grow up one day to be a lovely person.  He was the nicest man I had ever known and I only knew him for one afternoon.”

The memory of her afternoon with John Smith, a man she’s only known for a few minutes, on one day, turned the path of Lorraine’s life many years later, when she needed it most.   

“John had more faith in me than anyone else!  For some reason I knew that, from the moment we met. And, we simply talked while I helped him sell papers for the afternoon.”  

Yet, as it turned out, it was an important afternoon for both of them.  Shortly after Lorraine’s life was changed by John for a second time, she found out that their afternoon together had also changed the path of John’s life.  

“An insurance adjustor knocked on my door in Los Angeles.  He had spent weeks trying to find me, so he could tell me how important I was to John!”  Lorraine recalled. “The adjustor told me that John had worked very hard for the rest of his days so he could give me everything he had when he passed away. His entire estate was $1,500.”

“It was 1943.” Lorraine said.  “I remember thinking, why didn’t I have anybody?  When momma and daddy died in the car accident, I should have died too!”

Lorraine Broderick was talking about how we all look foolish at one time or another and that one afternoon can have the power to change a life, forever.  This was one such time for her.  It was one of those days when she was feeling alone and, well, blind because for some reason she had forgotten about John Smith and their afternoon together!  

It was an afternoon when two people’s lives were forever changed.  Two were rescued.

It was an important afternoon!