(Cincinnati.com) - A Facebook post about a praying Rumpke driver has received a lot of local social media attention.
North Bend resident Julie Bick posted a photo of her dad and the story of how a driver stopped to pray with him. More than 3,000 people thought they needed to share it with someone.
Rolf Bick, 77, may suffer from Alzheimer's disease, but he still tries to take care of his daughter Julie.
"He likes routine," she said. "And every Monday he tries to be outside to say hi to Harold."
Harold drives a garbage truck for Rumpke. Every Monday, Rolf Bick stands outside and waves as Harold works his route. She said the driver knows about her father's condition and always says hi and asks how he's doing.
One Monday recently, Bick says her dad noticed she wasn't having a great day.
"I was upset about something and Dad knew it," she said. "I reassured him I would be fine."
Her dad headed down the driveway for his weekly greeting to Harold. Then he came back for a chair. Bick says she reminded her dad that the driver was working. He asked her to leave.
"I asked why and he said, 'Harold is a good man. He's my friend. He is religious and I want to pray with him for you.' And his eyes filled with tears.
"Breaks my heart, I had to walk away. And I started to cry, too."
Through her tears she looked to the end of her drive and saw her dad in the chair. Harold knelt beside him in prayer.
"I snapped a picture. It was so sweet."
Molly Yeager Broadwater, Rumpke's corporate communications manager, said Bick called about the driver, concerned that her post could cause problems for Harold. Broadwater said he is a longtime Rumpke driver on the West Side and in Harrison. He didn't want his last name released.
"We think this demonstrates the kind of drivers we have," Broadwater said. "They do so much more than make 400 stops a day to pick up garbage. We share stories like this with all our employees."
It happened in minutes, but they were minutes that mattered.
Bick said once Harold went back to his route, she wanted to share the moment with others.
"A moment like that, you just don't see every day," she said. "It was a beautiful thing."
