Wednesday's Story

My grandfather was a missionary in 1929 in the Northern States Mission.

As he was tracting in the city of Iron City, Indiana, he noticed a life-size monument, a statue of a young boy leaning on a crutch. He was so intrigued by this monument that he asked some of the townspeople about it and this is the story they told him.

Jimmy's father had died and he and his mother moved to Iron City so that hopefully Jimmy could find some work and support he and his mother. Jimmy was ragged and crippled and had to use a crutch to walk. He was walking through the town one day and noticed a man in a nice business suit walking down the sidewalk. He went up to the man and said, "Please Sir, may I borrow a dollar?" In these days that would be about twenty dollars, maybe even more. The man didn't even hesitate and he pulled out a dollar and gave it to Jimmy without even looking at him. Jimmy tugged at the man's suit and said, "but Sir, I need to know your name because I intend to pay this back." The man looked down at Jimmy and smiled and handed him a business card. On the card it said, Mayor of Iron City, Indiana.

Jimmy immediately took fifty cents and gave it to his mother. She rented and old apartment on the 2nd floor of a building in the oldest part of town. Jimmy took the other fifty cents and bought some newspapers. With the newspapers in hand, Jimmy stood on the corner and sold the newspapers. He would stand on this one corner day after day selling his newspapers. With the money he made he would go and buy more.

A few weeks later, the mayor noticed Jimmy and told his friends about him. It was December and very cold. Jimmy would still stand on the corner stomping his cold, wet feet up and down. At first people pitied him, then they began to feel the love that he had for everyone, and what a wonderful young man he was, especially for supporting his mother. The townspeople were drawn to Jimmy to buy papers because of the disposition he carried, they wanted to be around him.

One day Jimmy looked up the Mayor and went to his office to pay back the dollar he had borrowed. The Mayor refused and said, "You need it much more than I." Then Jimmy told him, "maybe someday there will be a way that I can pay you back."

A couple of weeks passed by and it was Christmas Eve. Everybody was hustling and bustling around getting things ready for the next day, the Spirit of Christmas was in the air. Jimmy happened to look down and read the headline on the paper that day. It said that the Mayor's daughter, Ann, was very ill and was not expected to live through the night without a special blood type.

Jimmy immediately put his papers down with a cup beside them so they would continue to sell, and left for the hospital. He walked in and told the lady at the front desk that he wanted to donate blood for the mayor's daughter. She looked at him and told him that he was too young. (Can you imagine a young ragged looking boy on a crutch entering the hospital and telling them he wanted to try and save a life).

Jimmy was determined for sure. He slipped in and told someone else that he owed the mayor a great debt and would she please see if he had the right blood type for little Ann. It just so happened that Jimmy did have the right blood type. He got his mothers permission to transfuse blood into Ann. In those days they would roll the beds right next to each other and start to transfuse from one person to the other. Ann's face started to regain some color and she started to feel better. Unfortunately, Jimmy was beginning to become very week. As Ann improved they took her out of the room and they tended to Jimmy. They had his mother come in because Jimmy was becoming even more weak.

The Mayor came, and several of the townspeople came to inquire about Jimmy. Jimmy looked up into his mother's eyes and said, "is she OK?" His mother replied, "yes, she will be fine." Then Jimmy smiled and turned his head and died.

Everyone in the town heard about this. That cute little newspaper boy who stood on the street corner and was so full of love and full of life. The townspeople wanted to show their love for him so donations were taken and a life size monument erected for Jimmy and a trust fund was set up for his mother.

The monument was inscribed,

In memory of Jimmy O'Keefe who exemplified the love of the Savior.

In our lives today we have so many challenges, so many things that are hard, very hard. It may help us if we can think of the attributes of Jimmy O'Keefe - the unconditional love and the perseverance he had. Not only did he honor his father and mother by taking care of his mother, he sacrificed his life for another. For there is no greater gift than to lay down your life for a friend. Jimmy's mother must have been honored to have a son with these attributes.