Meet Me Halfway…Continued…
So yesterday I decided to pack up the kids, the stroller, a cooler with fresh fruit, water bottles, and sunscreen. I made up my mind that we would find Jimmy Wayne! I DM’ed (Direct Messaged) him on Twitter. To find out where he was. He was on the 87…the road that goes to Payson. I asked him if he’d like a Sub sandwich and he replied with:
“Yes!! And Mt Dew ..”
Sub sandwich -check! Mountain Dew -check! Chips -check!
Okay, call me crazy for doing this. Actually I was questioning myself the whole way out there (it was a long little car ride…over an hour!). Would Brett be mad I was trying to find a Country artist who was walking across country? Would I even find Jimmy? Was I actually going to walk with him? Here’s the thing. My afternoon was free. Clearly I’ve been touched by his story and his campaign to change something that needs improvement. I mean, I wrote about him yesterday. We had nothing going on yesterday afternoon…my car had just been serviced so I knew it would be fine. And I had a full tank of gas. Why not? Why not help someone out when it touches your heart. Stories like this make me want to be a better person. Stories like this make me want to try harder to get Emma’s Story out. So that’s my reason and I’m stickin’ to it!
Back to the story. Jimmy’s nephew calls me and says they’re about 20 miles from the casino on 87. Okay. I know where that is! The problem that I see is that the highway separates with little mountains and hills in between the two directions. So I’m booking it out there, keeping my eyes peeled for a guy in a red shirt. Not that I had to look hard. It was 109 degrees outside. I’d be floored if anyone else was walking this stretch. I ended up going about 30 miles from the casino, just to be safe. I turned around right after a little town called Sunflower. This is the sign you see when you come upon Sunflower. No joke. (click on the picture if you can’t read it!) Uh, you can’t miss this town!
So I turned around and headed back. About 10-12 miles going west I spotted a car on the side of the road and TWO people wearing red shirts! BINGO! I couldn’t pull over fast enough into their pullout area. So I stopped ahead precariously in between two metal guides. I don’t know what they’re called…two metal poles sticking up off the ground. Probably to keep people like me from pulling over on that part of the shoulder. Genious. Not only do I pull over there. I then drive in reverse on the shoulder (past these metal guides) for a few hundred yards. After the fender bender I had last week (long silly story), I was definitely questioning this decision! I got to their pullout spot, parked and turned the car off. Jimmy was actually doing a phone interview with someone. So I set up our little picnic and pulled out all the goods. Then realized this stuff would get hot fast and put all the goods back in the cooler until he was done. Except the Mountain Dew. He wanted that!
What a sweet guy Jimmy is. We just chatted away about the places he had visited. He asked about Monsoon storms. I asked if walking in the ice storms were worse than walking in this heat (the heat is worse, he said). He asked about Brett and what he did. Asked if I was coming to the Celebration Concert next week. It was easy conversation with a new friend. I was so happy to be able to do this for him and help support him on a leg of his journey that’s definitely not easy. Just standing in the heat was rough. I can’t imagine walking in this heat. And 87 isn’t an easy highway either. It’s twisty and turny and narrow. Very scary. I told him I wouldn’t be able to walk with him today, unfortunately. How would I get back to my car? And I couldn’t walk on this stretch with a stroller and two kids to boot. Perhaps I’ll be able to meet up again with him in the valley somewhere. Perhaps somewhere with sidewalks!
I got this sweet tweet after I left:
@jessicacrozier Thanx for coming out & bringing food! Awesome folks in this world!
Jimmy (if you read this), the pleasure was all mine. Maybe I’ll meet up with you again next week and can actually walk a bit! Expect a DM from me…perhaps Tuesday!
Anyway, here’s the moral of the story. If something inspires you, then do it! Help out in some way! I’m so happy I was able to take a few hours out of my day to put a smile on his face and let him know that he’s supported! Please take a minute to learn more about his story here. You won’t be sorry…and you will be inspired.
Here’s a quote that is on my Jumping Waves Facebook Page right now:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, It is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Picnic in the car!
Oh he will read it, and share it too! I am so glad you had the opportunity to reach out to Jimmy. I know he appreciates it, and MMH does too.
Shawneeinva
Very cool! You’re so right…if something inspires you, just do it! I’m not very good at that, so you’re inspiring to me!
This is the greatest story! I didn’t know his story! It’s amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Jess, that is so cool that you did that! What an inspirational story he has! I think sometimes you just have to be spontaneous and do things-like you did-and he probably won’t ever forget it. Thanks for sharing.