Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The child

Every now and then you come across a person who just has this internal light inside of them and makes you feel better when just standing in the the same room.
The three people came into the office all bundled up in their layer upon layer of clothes. He had a smile on his face as if there wasn't a care in the world. I introduced myself to the three and was drawn to this person to ask why of all people was he homeless. He told me the story of how his father was abusive and how he, his mother and sister escaped the violence with just a bag of clothing and enough gas to make it to Dallas from Oklahoma. They had tried to get into a shelter the night before but Mother did not have enough documentation to prove the children were hers, so they denied them a place to sleep. Instead they stayed in their paint faded 1985 station wagon and huddled together to survive the freezing cold.
They were looking for work to earn $40 so they wouldn't have to stay another night outside.
Little Moses, being only 8 years-old, said he would help and do anything for his sister and mother, even if it meant begging out on the roadways, so his family would have a safe and warm place to sleep for the night.
I don't know if they ever earned enough money that day to get out of the cold but often I will think of Moses when the nights turn frigid and the light he carried inside and surprisingly, I will be warm.

No comments:

Post a Comment