I Carried My Elderly Neighbor down Nine Flights During a Fire – Two Days Later, a Man Showed Up at My Door and Said, ‘You Did It on Purpose!’
In the days that followed, I helped her constantly—groceries, trash, stairs. Nick did homework at her table while she corrected his grammar and made hot chocolate. Slowly, quietly, we became something like family.
That’s why her son’s rage hurt so deeply. He accused me of acting heroic for personal gain. But when Mrs. Lawrence told me she’d left her apartment to me, her reason was simple: I showed up. I treated her like a person, not a problem.
