Thanksgiving: Remembering the have nots..

A few weeks ago there was a knock on my door. My daughter went to answer it then came quickly back to my room and whispered urgently to me, "It's a homeless man!"

I looked up incredulously, the side of town we live on is not the upper class side but having the homeless knocking on your door is not exactly a common occurrence.

My daughter was a little, well a lot. taken back, she didn't know what to say.

We are not bad people. We see the homeless every day, there is a man who sits every day right by the entrance of 156 with a big sign that says: We all have bad times, please help. I do, I give him whatever change I have. I have, in fact, started saving change in the cup holder of the car to give him whenever I go that way and see him.

Because everyone does go through bad times. I know of three certain times I was weeks away from being that person.

I don't know the difference between him and I, How I got lucky and landed on my feet and he didn't. God had a lot to do with it I am sure, but why he said no to him and yes to me will remain a mystery.

My daughter whispered urgently "what shall we do? He wants to cut our grass!"

I had to laugh, I told her simply " ok, we ll let him cut the grass, it certainly needs it and none of us

have time to do it."

So we did, I gave him 20 to cut our lawn, he did and went on his way. Over and done with right?

I knew better, I have had encounters before with those less fortunate, and it has always led to a blessing for me, rather then them. I was sure it would this time as well.

There's an end to my story of course. For the last three weeks the man comes by my house every week to cut the lawn. My regular Lawn company wasn't nearly as punctual.

He always came to my door, and looked me in the eye when he asked for work, and refused to look at me when I paid him. On one thing he can be proud, on the other he was ashamed to take money.

One day, he came by out of context and asked me to do some work, anything. His daughter was hungry, he just needed to feed her. I didn't have anything, so I gave him food, and he was just as happy.

He took the bag of groceries, and said thank you then: "Madame, you have a blessed Thanksgiving".

I was surprised, and told him to as well and asked him what he was doing. He explained he was going to the church, they always have hot meals on holidays. This was his first year as homeless he was quick to say, but the others had told him Holidays were the best time to be homeless, they could get a hot meal on those days. He said, for that he was thankful his daughter would have a hot meal.

Thankful, I asked remembering he was homeless, I would be anything but thankful.

"Yes mam!" he shifted the bag to his shoulder, every morning I wake up I am one day closer to finding work, and getting us out of this situation. Every day I am alive there is hope.

A lot of days I wake up depressed because I haven't the money to go out to eat, and he is just happy for the time he has to make things better.

The holidays are the best days for us to, it is a time for us to start remembering how lucky we are, no matter how little we have, there are those who have less.

I wonder why those of us who have more are the ones who do the most complaining?

That was my blessing, to remember how blessed I am,

I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving.