Part of Being Human

I have to admit, every day is a #ForBlake day in our house now. Blake was our nephew and cousin to my three children, so our family of five makes a concerted effort daily to do good deeds in his honor. Today was just one example, and such a simple act. There were no heroics, love is just part of being human.

As I was driving home from dropping my daughter off at Volleyball practice, and after picking up a few needed groceries for dinner I spied a very filthy homeless woman on the sidewalk just before my right turn. At that corner there is a Subway Sandwich shop so I pulled into the driveway quickly, stepped out of my car and asked her if I could buy her some food. She asked me, “From there?” Pointing to Subway, and I said, “Yes, if that is okay”. She agreed and I pulled into a spot and asked if she would join me inside.

She hesitated. She may have been the filthiest human being I have ever met. She was scratching her neck and head that was covered with thick dreadlocks. I could not say her age or ethnicity because she was so dirty I have no
understanding of her skin tone. She was extremely weathered and had few teeth remaining but could speak and was not agitated or mentally unstable during my time with her.

The girl in the Subway was all alone but never acted disrespectful or concerned , on the contrary, she was patient and had no issue with the woman staying inside to eat. I was very grateful for her kindness. In fact, she was so patient as the woman changed her order several times, finally settling on a 12 inch sandwich with roast beef, cheese, avocado olives, mayo and mustard.

I loved how specific she was, she still knew what pleased her. And as she sat down to eat, inside, like any other welcomed guest she drew a huge toothless grin across her face. At that I said “God bless you” and goodnight.