Elizabeth Caldwell passed away just before her 80th birthday. She died April 15, 2013 and left behind her beloved husband, Bud. They’d been together for nearly 56 years.
Betty’s family dedicated a park bench in memory of Betty a year later. Bud had a picture added to the bench, so he can visit his wife. He has been visiting her bench every single day since the dedication. He reports or confesses on his day with each visit. Although, he says that at his age, most days it’s only a report, not a confession.
George “Bud” Caldwell sent an email to his local newspaper to tell the story of what happened one day when he went to visit his wife’s bench.
The bench at the train station in Lakeside Park is in an out of the way area that doesn’t see much attention from the park employees. There’s a path to the area, but it’s a path that doesn’t typically get plowed.
During the nice weather, Bud takes a penny and a daisy to his wife’s bench. Her favorite song as a young girl was Pennies from Heaven. Their favorite song during the marriage was A Daisy a Day. It’s fitting that he takes a penny and a daisy when he visits.
He also notes that others will leave pennies for his Betty too. When the top of her photo frame fills with pennies, he takes them home to a jar that eventually gets donated to the Salvation Army.
In the winter, he put a few silk daisies on her bench for when he can’t get through the snow. He’ll sit in his car during his visit instead. Until one day, there was a cleared path to his wife’s bench. Bud walked up and reported to his Betty. On the way back to his car, a city truck parked nearby and two men walked over to shake his hand and introduce themselves. They were Jerrod and Kevin.
During the conversation, they told Bud that they’d noticed him visiting so they’d cleared a path for him. They promised to keep the path clear all winter for him too.
Bud was overwhelmed with the extraordinary act of kindness from these gentlemen, so he wanted to publicly thank them.
The newspaper decided to interview the two men who said they didn’t do it for the recognition. They called themselves stewards who are meant to help. They felt bad that Bud couldn’t get to the bench that day, so as long as he needs a path to the love of his life, they’ll provide it for him.