Going Above and Beyond

Early one morning shortly after the school year began, Melanie Zane walked into her office to prepare for her day. The clock on her computer said 7:15 AM; she liked coming in early to catch up on paperwork and to prepare for the day ahead. There was a lot of paperwork to catch up on: requisitions, student requests for appointments, intra-district paperwork to go to the district office. She thought, I’ll NEVER catch up on all this paperwork! I need three weeks just dedicated to working on paperwork to catch up! She sorted them by importance: the time-sensitive documents were the first to be worked on. The least important work was put aside.

As she was working, a student burst into her office, panting for air and crying at the same time. Startled by the unscheduled interruption, Melanie looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Veronica (Vee) Moreno, the student, gained her composure. She was crying and was clearly in distress.

“My mom’s very sick and the ambulance took her to the hospital! My grandmother went with her in the ambulance!”

“Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“She started getting sick last night just before we were going to bed. She was okay last night but got worse when she threw up blood! I’m scared! I don’t want to lose her!”

Melanie embraced her and was able to get more information out of her. She persuaded Veronica to stay in her office until the principal arrived. Shortly after 7:30 AM, the principal arrived. Melanie immediately walked into his office with urgency and closed the door behind her. 

She said in a low voice, “Michael, I have a student in my office that’s clearly in distress. Her mother is in the hospital. She has no other family here other than her mother, grandmother and older sister; her nearest extended family is in the south part of Texas, a couple of thousand miles from here. I need to take her to the hospital; I will use my own car to take her. I am requesting the day off. I can come in on Saturday to catch up on paperwork and do today’s meetings with students via teleconference.”

Michael Thompson, the principal, is an imposing man, six feet five inches, 250 pounds of solid muscle. He is tough but fair-minded. He is willing to listen to the other person’s viewpoint and come to a reasoned decision based on that viewpoint. He granted Melanie the rest of the day off. She returned to her office.

“Veronica, I’ll take you to the hospital. Mr. Thompson gave me the rest of the day off. Let’s go.” Melanie shut down her computer, locked her office, and took Veronica to the hospital to meet up with her sister and grandmother and to see her mother. She let the front office know that an emergency came up and she would be out for the day.

At the hospital, Veronica asked where her mother Mayra was. The woman at the front desk looked her up, and told her she was in the emergency room being treated. Just then a male nurse walked with Veronica and Melanie to the ER waiting room. Melanie sat down while Veronica talked to the nurse on duty at the front desk. Veronica’s grandmother saw her and they hugged. Her sister was on the way to the hospital from her work.

“Grandma, what did they say about Mom?”

“She has a stomach ulcer. They are keeping her overnight for observation. She’s in Room 323.”

“Grandma, this is Ms. Zane, my school counselor. Ms. Zane, this is my grandmother, Isabel Garcia.”

Mrs. Garcia smiled sweetly at Melanie as she said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Garcia.” Melanie responded back.

After talking for a few minutes, Melanie posed a suggestion: she offered to cook the family a meal in lieu of them having to go to a restaurant to eat. They accepted her offer, as finances were tight in Veronica’s home.

“Mrs. Garcia, I’ll get all the ingredients for the meal myself. I’ll call Veronica’s phone later this afternoon. When I call your granddaughter’s phone, it’s going to show a strange number with a 774 prefix. That’s the first three numbers of my phone number. Go ahead and answer it. I’ll call between 4 and 4:30 this afternoon.”

“Oh thank you! Bless you!” Mrs. Garcia said.

“My grandmother will look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Ms. Zane. You’re a life saver!”

“My pleasure, I’m glad to help. I hope your mother heals up soon and that she has a speedy recovery.”

Melanie left Veronica with her grandmother to visit Mayra. She then left for her next destination: a grocery store not far from her house. She decided to make paella, soup, and a crunchy salad. She pulled up the recipes on a food app on her phone and created a shopping list based on the recipes. As she was shopping, her phone rang. On the other end was Brianna Behrmann, her professional mentor and former boss.

“Good morning, Brianna! It’s so good to hear from you!”

“Hi Melanie! I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing!”

“I’m fine; in fact, I’m grocery shopping now. One of my students has her mother in the hospital and I’m getting groceries for the family. It’s the least I can do.”

They conversed for a few minutes before Brianna opened the gymnastics academy for the day. Hearing from Brianna put a smile on Melanie’s face and a bounce in her step. In addition to the ingredients for the dishes, she bought additional groceries to see the family through for the next couple of months. The total came out to just under $400 but to Melanie it was worth blessing them.

She arrived home. Fortunately, Shawn was asleep in his new favorite spot: a small nook near the fireplace. For the next hour, Melanie organized the groceries into family dishes for tonight, and family supplies for the next couple of months. Then she put them in the refrigerator. She would make the paella and the crunchy salad at the same time. First, she would clean the mussels before anything else. The frozen peas would be thawing. In the background, praise and worship music was playing. Melanie would pray, then be silent, then pray a few more minutes.

About halfway through cooking, Shawn woke up, decided he was hungry, and let out a loud meow. Melanie fed him his favorite: a large can of grilled beef cat food. For a nearly six-month-old kitten, he was enormous in size: almost as big as a full-grown cat. Melanie had to remind herself that he’s only a kitten. She talked to Shawn while she was feeding him. He ate all of his food, and then rubbed up against her lower leg. Melanie petted him briefly, and then he ran up the stairs to go to the bathroom and then lay on her bed.

It didn’t take long for Melanie to make the crispy salad. She covered the salad and instead of putting the dressing on it, she put the dressing in a storage container that was used for a soup to go from a restaurant. She then mixed the ingredients for a simple chicken soup: chicken thighs and breasts she had boiled (she had planned on having chicken soup for dinner that night but decided to bless the Moreno family with it instead). The soup was simmering on very low and would take a couple of hours. She then went to work on the paella. That would take another hour to an hour and a half. That would put her at 3:30 that she was done with everything. Good, she thought. That would give me time to shower and throw on something simple such as jeans and a blouse. I have everything in boxes in the garage fridge. She was a whirling dervish of activity in the kitchen: going from one meal to another, and back.

She was finished with everything by 3:35 PM. She then ran upstairs to take a quick shower and get ready to call Mrs. Garcia and Veronica. After her quick shower, she found a pair of jeans she liked and a matching blouse, along with tennis shoes sans socks. After finishing with putting on her clothes, she called Mrs. Garcia.

“Hi Mrs. Garcia, this is Ms. Zane from the school. We talked this morning about me fixing you some dishes to last you and your granddaughter for the next few days while your daughter recovers.”

“Yeah, I remember now!” Veronica asked to speak to Melanie.

“Hi Ms. Zane, this is Veronica. I just want to thank you so much for your generosity and your kindness. We’re still at the hospital visiting my mom, but we’re leaving soon. We should be home by 5. My sister is giving us a ride home. I’ll text you my address. We’ll see you soon!”

Melanie decided to leave at 4:45. At 4:30, she began to haul all the groceries she bought to her SUV. She placed them in the back seat. She placed the warm dishes in the hatch area of the vehicle. She placed the crispy salad on the passenger seat. She made sure Shawn had enough food in her absence and told him she would be away for a bit but would return.

Shortly after 5 pm, she pulled up to the house, located in a rough area of town. She brought the paella first, and then rang the doorbell. Veronica answered.

“Thank you so much!” Veronica said as she accepted the paella from Melanie.

“There’s more!” Melanie exclaimed in excitement. Veronica raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Really?” She brought in the chicken soup and the crispy salad. Then she led Veronica, her sister Victoria and her grandmother to her SUV.

“Open the door. All those groceries are yours!" There were meats, fresh vegetables, two gallons of milk, and many other kinds of groceries. The three ladies stood there for a moment with their mouths agape. Mrs. Garcia was moved to tears by Melanie’s kindness and empathy.

Mrs. Garcia spoke. “I was worried about how we were going to get groceries. My daughter and granddaughter, while they both work, they barely make enough to make ends meet. Mayra works at a convenience store and does pet sitting as a side business. Victoria works part-time at a fast food restaurant. But if they don’t work, they don’t make money. This was an answer to my prayers!”

“Mrs. Garcia, I was in a similar situation years before.” They were talking as they hauled in all the groceries. “I had to work odd jobs just to survive. It took leaving my abusive husband and changing my environment. I moved in with my brother and sister in law for a while. I began going to church and changed my life around. I found good people to associate with, that would encourage me and hold me accountable. I decided to return to school, and now I’m a guidance counselor at the high school. I’m just saying this because I can relate to your situation. I had to ask myself, ‘What do I want out of life?’ My first answer was going to church and finding good people to associate with. Then I found a part-time job, and my boss suggested I go back to school to be a teacher, as she was impressed with how I related to the girls at my job. I worked at a gymnastics academy run by a former college-level gymnast and she coached gymnastics at the high school level. I got my teaching credential, taught for two years while I was going to graduate school for a master’s degree in counseling. I ended up getting my master’s degree and now I’m a counselor.”

“That’s great!” Mrs. Garcia replied. Melanie was about to leave but Mrs. Garcia and her two granddaughters persuaded her to join them for dinner. They ate the paella and the crispy salad. The noise around the table consisted of silverware clanking against the plates, moans of contentment, and conversation in a low voice, almost like a hum. Dessert was a chocolate cake that Victoria picked up from her favorite bakery. Melanie ate a slice of the cake with a glass of milk. She helped gather the dishes to put in the dishwasher. After several minutes of conversation, Victoria received a call from the hospital. (She was Mayra’s emergency contact.)

“I got a call from the hospital. My mom is being discharged sometime tomorrow morning. Her ulcer is under control and they may not have to operate on her. So far, the medication they gave her is working.”

“That’s great news!” Melanie said. She hugged Victoria, Veronica, and Mrs. Garcia.

“I’ll be back in school tomorrow.” Veronica said. “Grandma, you and Victoria can go pick Mom up. I’ll call you during recess for an update.”

Melanie turned to leave. She gave the three women a hug and they thanked her for being there for Veronica and for them as well. Victoria even said that Melanie went above and beyond the call. Melanie smiled, her heart full of gratitude. As she was leaving, Veronica asked to speak to Melanie in private. They stepped outside and walked halfway to Melanie’s SUV.

Veronica spoke. “Today was a blessing in disguise. With my mother and sister both struggling to make ends meet, and my mother in the hospital, it wouldn’t be fair to her to continue the cycle of dropping out and struggling in life. I want to go to college to better myself and create a good future for me. I want to do what you’re doing. By the way, I’m not pregnant! I was a few days late for my period, but I had it. This was a major wake-up call in my life: the pregnancy scare, now this. I will go to the office tomorrow and set up another appointment with you. Let’s go over what I need to do to go to college and succeed.”

“I’m so glad you’re making that decision to better yourself. I see a lot of potential in you. Underneath that tough exterior is a smart and beautiful woman that has a lot to offer and a lot going for her. I will definitely do all I can to help you! Do make that appointment; I will be glad to help you!” Melanie hugged Veronica and then she got in her car and departed for her home, her heart filled with gratitude.