Wednesday, March 4, 2015

A Light at the End

Kathy has a son named Zach, who has recently begun selling some of his photographs online.  I fell head over heels for one, and placed an order.  This was about a week and a half ago.

Those intervening days have been achingly awful for me --- I've been low and weepy and my therapy session today was really hard.  I thought some take-out from a good Chinese restaurant might lift me up a bit.

Several weeks ago, I began keeping bottles of water and individually packaged snacks in my car.  It seemed to me I was seeing a lot more people standing on corners and at intersections with cardboard "Please help" signs, and I thought, if I kept things on hand, I could help them out a little.

This afternoon, after my tough session, and on my way to get my food, I saw an older man sitting on a curb with a sign that said, "Homeless.  Anything would help."  I got into a parking lot, got some water and snacks for him from the car, but when I got to him, he said, "Miss Ma'am, I got something to eat.  I need money."

I was stunned.  I walked back to my car, shaking.  What had just happened?  WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?

I managed not to cry until after I got my food.  I was just trying to do a good thing.  Even that turned to woe.

When I pulled into my driveway, I saw a package on my front porch.  It was the picture I ordered from Zach:

At the end of this miserable day, there was a light.

Thank you, Zach.  More than you can know.

4 comments:

Lora said...

Wow. I'm so sorry that your act of kindness was met with ungratefulness. I'm glad your lovely photo was waiting for you. Hopefully the light is shining a little brighter for you.

Bridget said...

I've had similar experiences and they are always astonishing, since you feel that your attempt at kindness resulted in a slap in the face. It's hard to forget.

But hopefully that photo will make a difference. Life isn't always dark.

kathy b said...

And YOU Kim shone a light for me today. Much love and hugs
kath

teabird said...

I'm so sorry you had that experience - I've seen it, too, and wondered. The photo is wonderful - ((hugs))

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