Friends, I went in that alley with my husband and my kids with $57 in our checking account.
On Christmas Eve.
In absolutely terrible weather.
We barely made it home last night from visiting family as our rickety van literally shook anytime we went over 60mph over the mountain.
But we made it….with $57 leftover.
That’s it.
“PigPen,” my husband said sincerely, knowing our account balance, “we don’t have very much, but we know what it’s like to have nothing and to be totally dependent on the kindness of others. We just hope it helps a little.”
From one grown man to another, in a situation that society might have dressed in shame and despair, those two guys SAW each other.
Friends, I know we mess up as parents.
In our house, we mess up a lot, if I’m being totally honest.
But I know we got this right.
I didn’t take a picture because these men and women deserve respect and anonymity, as any human would. We all struggle in our own ways…some just hide it more convincingly.
But I don’t need a candid shot of PigPen fist bumping our boy or telling our daughter he hopes she gets lots of presents under the tree tomorrow, because I’ll never forget today.
Everybody deserves kindness.
