A birthday good deed

It was Delta's birthday on Monday this week, and the two of us headed over to our favourite Thai restaurant for a quiet little tete a tete. As we crossed First Ave on the way to the restaurant, we noticed a bit of a kerfuffle on the road - a bus pulled over to the side, a car stopped in the middle of the road with a telltale dent by it's front headlight, a couple of arguing drivers, and a traffic cop. Typical accident scene with the exchanging of insurance papers etc - but nobody looked to be injured, and we just sighed with relief that we don't need to drive in the city.

We'd all but forgotten about this incident by the end of dinner, but when we were returning back from the restaurant, we noticed that the car involved in the accident was still there in the middle of the road. The bus and traffic cops had vanished from the scene, but an elderly lady stood by the car, presumably the driver.

"Something's got to be wrong, there's no way she should be there for so long!" Delta exclaimed, "come on, let's go over and check if she's okay."
Delta, as always, being the large-hearted helper, and me tagging along like Batman and Robin.
"Is everything okay, ma'am?" Delta asked politely as we approached the elderly lady.
"No! I just have accident, tyre flat. Look." She spoke Russian, and only a smattering of english phrases.
"Shall I change your tire for you?" Delta asked, with a whole lot of gesticulating, to communicate his point.
"You do that?! For me?! Oh thank you! thank you!" She was so grateful, and so helpless, that instantly I was at once delighted we had come.

While Delta set about the arduous task of changing the tire (with a fair share of grunting and groaning to illustrate the efforts he was putting in), I sat at the side like a rather unhelpful companion and chatted with the lady instead.

Surprisingly, given that she had just had a car accident, she seemed in high spirits. She stood by the side of the car waving an unfurled roll of kitchen towel ("like flag to warn other cars no hit us,") she explained to me, since her car was still parked in the middle of the road.
"Will you be okay?" I asked, concerned about leaving her alone for the evening.
"Oh yes, first time have accident thirteen years," she clarified. "Thirteen years! Is rare no have accident so long in New York," she said proudly.
I smiled. I was just impressed with her fortitude and spirit.
When Delta had completed the wheel change, he walked over to us proudly, dusting his hands.
"I pay you?" she asked him.
"No, of course not! We don't want your money!"
She paused, wanting to show her appreciation, but unsure how.
"Okay fine then you take this." It turned out she was an artist, and she proudly handed us postcards of the work she had done. And they were beautiful!

We said our goodbyes and headed homewards, she leaned over and gave both Delta and me long, warm hugs. I was filled with the buoyancy of genuine contentment. I couldn't pinpoint then what it was, but now that I think about it, I believe it was the feeling of being inspired. By Delta's spontaneous good will. By the elderly lady's strength of spirit. By the immediate and and spontaneous connection we had all built, in that odd little situation in the middle of the road.