Has someone been a Parachute in your life?

Has there been a Parachute in your life? 

Perhaps the fiercest of all post world war-2 battles was fought between the USA and Vietnam from 1955 to 1975.
Charles Plumb was one of the greatest fighter pilots of USA Navy in those days.. He was successful in bombarding Vietnam a record 75 times. During 76th attempt,  his fighter plane was shot by the enemy missile. However, by sheer miracle Charles landed safely with the help of a parachute.
But the area where he landed was in North Vietnam. He was cordoned by enemy soldiers from all sides and was made the prisoner of war..
He had to face brutal hardships at the hands of enemy soldiers for long and painful 6 years of imprisonment.
The war ended and ultimately Charles was one of the many prisoners of war to be released by Vietnam.
He arrived home to USA and received a hero's welcome..
He was a war-hero. Wherever he went he was received by huge audiences who were always eager to listen to the tales of his adventure and heroism.
Charles was always a proud man as he narrated his experiences to his fellow citizens.
On one such occasion as Charles was about to finish his speech an old man approached the podium and said, ''Charles, I am really happy to see you. Do you remember me?
I was in the USA navy.
I used to make Parachutes for the fighter pilots!''
Tears started rolling down Charles' cheeks as he realized he had been so boastful of his adventures and achievements but it was only because of this old guy that he was alive..
It was only because of the parachute that he had meticulously prepared for him that he could miraculously manage to survive.
Since that day Charles continued to express gratitude to this parachute-maker wherever he went to deliver his speeches.
He would conclude by urging his audience to contemplate deeply and find out if there was someone who had acted as a parachute in their lives and had saved them in troubled times..

If there's a Parachute-maker in your life, don't forget to express the gratitude to them..
For that's the least you can do..
And if possible, try being a parachute to someone else.. :-)

(Translated to English..
Written originally in Hindi by my mom, Shyamali Palkar based on a column which appeared in Gujarat Samachar. )