I ran into a very destitute mother and daughter on Thanksgiving while
working as a volunteer at the local shelter.
Since she and her daughter came in at the end of serving the long line
of people, I fortunately had the time to sit down and talk with them for a
while. Her story really touched me. I so wanted to do more for this little girl,
because when I was little, I grew up with a mother that worked two jobs to keep
food on the table and a place to live.
So I went on a quest to help the mother by gifting martial arts lessons
to her daughter. I was fortunate enough
to be in a position to where I could, and I recalled where the mother said she
worked. The following week, I went to
the restaurant where the mother worked.
I wrote her a note, letting her know that if she would allow me, I would
like to give her daughter a gift that will help her as she gets older. I gave this note to the mother, and thankfully,
she was receptive, and accepted my gift.
This small contribution made this young woman’s day. This would be her daughter’s first year
without her dad, and she did not have the money to make her little girl’s
Christmas special. I went to work the
following day and told my boss all about it.
Well, he jumped on the bandwagon to help ‘the family’. He spent countless hours on the phone,
contacting friends, work associates and pretty much anyone that would listen to
drum up contributions for this mother and daughter. He did a fabulous job collecting funds for
this small family, but left it to me to present it to the mother.
Tonight, I dropped off everyone’s gift at the mother’s place of
employment. With tears streaming down
her face for the charity from countless wonderful people, I could not hold back
my own. Later, I came to the
realization that, while hoping to change another’s life, I ended up changing my
own.
I hope each of you a wonderful and blessed holiday season! May the gift of caring and sharing stay with each
of us always!
Happy holidays!
Kat ♥