Lately, I see them everywhere.
I usually drive by like I don’t see them.
Pretend to do something else.
Change the radio.
Go the back way into Target just to avoid sitting at the light next to them.
Just don’t make eye contact.
Normally, I’m a terribly hard-hearted person.
“Why are you sitting here day after day? Go DO something!”
It’s even more awful looking at it in writing than in my own head.
But yesterday, something was different. Something changed.
I pulled into a gas station and saw at the far end a mother and daughter. The mom was holding a sign that simply said “Down on my luck”. Nothing more was needed… somehow I understood.
Maybe it was because her daughter was with her.
Maybe it was because her daughter wasn’t any older than 5. Maybe it was because she only seemed a little older than me.
But something hit me. Something changed.
I was already planning on pulling into the McDonald’s next door to grab a “don’t fall asleep while driving” snack, but now I knew I had to. I knew that little girl needed me….I just knew.
I ordered the chicken nuggets, apples, and milk.
A toy to make her smile.
so big when I handed her that meal. It maybe the first or fifteenth one she’d gotten that day, but she was as grateful as a child could be.
Her mother looked at me with that look that only a mother can give.
Her thank you was overshawdowed by the smile on her face.
That’s all I could offer. I didn’t have any cash…and I don’t know if that would have been the right call.
I could offer a meal. Protein, fruit, and milk. The most wholesome thing I could think to get at McDonald’s. I knew for that night, she would have a good meal in her tummy and a new toy to snuggle with at night.
It makes me cry just writing this thinking about that little girl. She was so gracious and smiled
And my face was covered in tears as I pulled back onto the freeway.
For one minute. For one meal. For one night, that little girl was taken care of.
