FROM THE ARCHIVES--THE 4TH WISE MAN (via The Mother Judd):

A gift for compassion (Kevin Cullen, December 24, 2007, Boston Globe)

It's a long drive up from the Cape, but Mary Quin does it without complaint. Eddie is her oldest, her baby, and she loves him the way only a mother can love her firstborn.
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"Hi, Ma," Eddie said, climbing into the car.

Eddie is 50 years old, mentally retarded, and smarter than a lot of people. He lives in a group home in Wakefield and works as a janitor at a workshop in Woburn.

Mother and son have a little tradition this time of year. She picks him up, they have lunch, and she takes him to the stores, so he can buy Christmas presents for his brother and sisters.

They were sitting in the China Moon, in Stoneham, waiting for their lunch, when Mary noticed Eddie wasn't himself.

"What's the matter, Eddie?"

"I seen it on TV, Ma," he said. "There was a fire, in Everett, and everybody's house got burned up. There was an oil truck and it crashed and it burned."

Eddie couldn't stop thinking about the people in Everett since he saw it on the news.

"I've got a lot of clothes, Ma," Eddie said. "I've got clothes at my house, and I've got clothes at your house down the Cape. I want to give some of my clothes to those people."

Mary Quin told Eddie that it wasn't clothes that the people in Everett needed. She had heard they needed other things, like money and gift cards.

Eddie thought for a moment. Then he pulled a dog-eared bank book from his back pocket.

"Ma," he said. "Can you take me to the bank?"

[originally posted: 12/25/07]

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