terrypetersen

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. (Vincent Van Gogh)

D has worked in jails. She’s seen pain and ugliness. She understands both justice and injustice—from the inside. And the experience has not hardened her.

Sure, I’ve given a dollar or two to displaced folk. But, if I’m going to be honest I have rarely looked those individuals in the eye. Once as I was driving out of a heavily traveled area I handed a few dollars to a young woman. She smiled; I notice she was almost toothless. Immediately I interpreted it as  meth mouth. Maybe she had it; maybe she didn’t. I was not going to solve the depth of her problems anyway.

I feel overwhelmed by the causes and power of homelessness. D saw a situation where she could help and dived right into it. She stopped long enough to talk to a couple who had nowhere to go.

The young girl, unmarried, was pregnant. Her family kicked her out of the house. Her partner also lost everything. D checked out their stories. By some divine serendipitous fluke, D’s friend in another state was able to verify the facts. D found a safe haven for the girl and a halfway house for the man.

Although this is the summarized version of the story, it includes the essence. I don’t want to accidentally relay the couple’s identities for the sake of curiosity. Therefore, I keep D’s name quiet as well.

I’ve seen suggestions for the desperate such as placing useful items in a purse and giving them to homeless women, or wrapping warm coats around telephone poles with a note: for anyone who needs something warm. However, D went ten steps further. She gave hope and possibilities.

I know D has overcome a lot in her own life. When she was a child her mother threw her and her siblings out into the snow. The children had no hats or coats. A neighbor brought the kids inside and called a relative who saved them. D knows how the cold and helplessness feel.

But D has not let loss live inside her soul. Thanks for the openness of your heart, ordinary angel. You are a blessing. Just wanted you to know it!