I came home from work today with a request from my husband to pick
up some Heggie's pizzas for him and the kids to have for lunch tomorrow.
No problem.
He really likes Heggie's (a MN brand) and he rarely makes specials requests,
so without hesitating, I packed up the kids and headed out to the only
place in town (to my knowledge), a local butcher shop, that carries them.
And there he was. I saw him before I even got out of the car.
Not even half a block down the road, sitting in the grass, was a homeless man.
The entire time I was in the butcher shop,
I was thinking about him. When I got in my car, all I could do was watch him.
From my suburban, I could read the sign he was holding.
Homeless.
Anything helps.
I could feel my heart knotting up in my chest, but was quickly
pulled back to reality by the shout of, "MOM!"
I backed out of the parking lot and turned to make my way home,
away from the man. My head and my heart kept telling me I should help him.
But I had my kids with, and wanted to get home... so I told myself someone else has
certainly stopped already. This is a good town, with great people, I'm sure people
have been stopping and offering what they could.
I felt better.
I pulled into my drive way, and again, felt like I should go back and help him.
I knew it was the right thing to do, and knew that it was something I HAD to do.
So, I backed out of the driveway again, and made my way back to the butch shop.
I stopped at a different deli first, and picked him up dinner.
A hot sandwich, a bag of chips, a candy bar, a pop, and big bottle of water.
Nothing special, but it was a meal.
I also stopped at the ATM for a little cash.
I was worried he wouldn't be there anymore, but was determined to find him.
I was relieved to find him still sitting there.
I got out of my car, locked the doors, as my kids were still inside, and
walked across the street.
I could see the shame on his face from yards away, and did my best to choke back tears.
ME: It's nothing special, but I brought you dinner.
MAN: Thank you so much. God bless you.
ME: There's a little cash in the bag as well, good luck.
MAN: Thank you. Thank you.
He was dirty and looked like he hadn't shaved in quite awhile.
As I turned to make my way back to my truck, every car that drove
by housed a smiling driver. I can only hope that my small gesture
inspired them to pay it forward too.
It took every ounce of strength I had to not start to sob as I drove away.
I certainly didn't want my kids to see me crying, and I didn't know
how to explain the situation to them.
Small gesture or not, helping him felt right, and I'm so glad I went back.
Once upon a time, I was leery of homeless people. Too many times I had heard
stories about people preying on the sympathy of others by posing as
homeless to make some quick cash.
Or I would wonder why they hadn't reached out to homeless shelters or
different programs tailored to getting people on their feet.
This topic just so happened to have come up not too long ago with
a close friend of mine who works for the county.
I had no idea, but the county I live in DOESN'T have a homeless shelter.
In fact, there's almost no sort of programs establish to help those in need
in our area.
And the worst part? We have quite the homeless population here!
I must live a sheltered life, but I had no idea. I'm not trying to be modest,
but had anyone asked me before this how many people I thought were
homeless in my town, I probably would have guessed 10.
She knows of over 100 people, just in this town. (Maybe that doesn't sound like
a lot to some people, but this is only a town of 16,000.)
I was disgusted in how oblivious I was to all of this, which is
maybe why I felt so compelled to help that man tonight.
Long story short, my heart told me to help him, and I'm so glad I did.
I will carry his gratitude with me forever.
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