Alte Weiber

At first glance when we drove past the elderly woman smoking and shuffling along, we both chuckled and thought she was a real tiger to run to the corner store for her cigarettes while in her bathrobe and slippers.

But after emerging from the underground parking lot after a half-hour long search for a spot and then coming face-to-face with the sweet woman who asked us if we knew where Elm Street was because everything "looked strange", we realized that she was cold and lost.

"...Alles fremd hier..."

We're not from Frankfurt so we couldn't take her home.  Instead my hubby called the police and gently reassured her that we would get some help. 

She was confused and looking around trying to recognize something, anything, and my husband was trying to find a street sign to give the rescue operator our location.  I was chasing from behind while pushing our toddler in a stroller and I don't know what made me get out my iPhone and take a picture. 

We gave her my gloves and the hubs wrapped his jacket around her and we made sure she was nestled into a warm police car before we went on with our day.

My thoughts keep returning to this woman who said to me, "Alte Weibe sind auch Menschen." (Old women are people too.  Although "Weibe" literally means "skirt" but is slang for women or ladies).   I wonder if she's OK, and if she has a family who knows about these spells. I wonder about all the other people she asked for directions who frightfully pulled away from her as well as the ones who looked so grateful when the police came.  She might have been awfully confused geographically but I can't help but think about just how philosophically accurate her words really were.

Comments

[Linda]

Thanks for sharing this event in your day. Thank goodness your family understood what was going on. Hugs!

[Tracey]

How bittersweet this experience must have been. It's a good thing you and your husband were there to help her. If only there were only more people in the world who would stop to help! Hopefully her family was thankful for someone watching over her.

[DJ]

What an inspiring story...
Sending prayers up for all the elderly around the world, going through sad experiences...and praying that there will be angels nearby to assist them as you did...
May those acts of kindness
be returned to you...

[Eveline]

What a touching story. I hope her family, or people who look after her, will take as great care of her as you have done.

[lyneen]

My gosh how frightening for her... and how kind of you and your husband.