A Glass of Milk

Once upon a time, there was a poor young boy who lived
by selling breads in his old basket from door to door.
One night, he found out that he only had a few cents
in his pocket, and he was really hungry, while he
wasn’t allowed to eat any of the breads.

The boy decided to ask for some food to the next
house. But he lost his courage when a young lady
opened up the door for him. He asked for a glass of
water instead of asking for some food. The young lady
saw him, and thought that the boy might be very
hungry, so she gave him a big glass of milk.

The boy drank it slowly, and then asked, “how much do
I have to pay for this milk?”
The lady answered, “You don’t need to pay”. “Our
mother taught us not to accept any money for good
things we do,” she added.

The boy finished the milk and said, “I’d like to thank
you from the bottom of my heart, Lady”.

A few years later, the lady had a cancer. The doctors
in the town couldn’t help her. Then they sent the lady
to a big city, where she could see good doctors who
could handle her disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was in duty
to hospitalize the lady, and when he found out where
the lady was from, there was something on his memory.
Soon he walks through the corridor towards her room.
With his white surgery clothes, he saw the lady. And
it didn’t take long for Dr. Kelly to recognize who she
was. He went back to the consultant room to decide the
best to save her. Since that day on, he always gave
special attention to this lady’s case. Then, on the
operation day, after a few hours on the surgery table,
the doctor team got their victory… The lady was
saved!!! Dr. Kelly asked the finance dept. staff of
the hospital to send the operation bill to his office
to be signed before they sent them to the lady. As he
got the bill, he wrote something on it.

The lady was worried even just to open the bill’s
envelope, she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to
cover all of the charges although she has to pay for
all of her life. But as she opened it, there was
something interested her attention on the corner of
the bill. She read a hand writing said: “Paid with a
big glass of milk!”, Dr. Howard Kelly.

Happy tears flooded her eyes. She said a prayer,
“Thank You Lord, Your love has shown on the earth
through men’s hearts and hands”.

(Based on a true story).