I think I've said before that I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, and that's still true. I think we all should try to lead our best lives all the time, and though I'm not always successful, I do try. However, spending Christmas Eve down at the local homeless shelter brought home to me that I don't do near enough. I remember reading somewhere once that most of us are just one paycheck away from being homeless ourselves, and visiting with the people at the shelter made that very real for me. There were mothers with newborn babies- one of the moms had eight children ranging from early teens to an infant. That could've easily been me. I was lucky. I had the support of friends and family, and if I had ever ended up without a home, I had generous people in my life who, I'm sure, would have taken me in. One father stood on the sidelines, watching his kids play games with our group- a sort of sad smile on his face. One mom asked her son if she could take the gifts we gave him and wrap them so that he would have something to unwrap in the morning. Another young teen was overheard saying he was going to put the skateboard he'd gotten as a gift outside another younger boy's door because he had heard the boy saying how much he wished he'd gotten a skateboard. Here's this kid with just the clothes on his back willing to give away his gift to make another child happy! The generosity of that touched me to my core. I got to come home to my big warm house, and these children were spending the night in the family section of SAMM's Shelter, an emergency shelter where they are expected to get up and leave in the morning. A new shelter called Haven for Hope is in the process of being built, and it's a place where all the services a homeless, jobless person might need will be housed together- places to sleep, a medical clinic, classes, job counseling, psychiatric counseling- everything. And I'm planning to find out what I can do there to help. Watching these little children was heartbreaking, and nobody deserves to be in their situation. Seeing their parents doing the best they can under their circumstances - well, it made me think about those who are against health care reform, those who want to criminalize the poor, those who think they're "better than" because they are wealthy- those who will never understand. So I am making a few New Year's resolutions this year- to DO instead of just talk- to HELP instead of shake my head at the sadness - to BE that best person I can be every day to the best of my ability.
May your new year be the best ever, and may we all be grateful for what we have.
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6 comments:
How beautiful. I will look forward to new stories of your work. Your skills will be needed.
Reminds me of last Christmas when Rich and I worked at a shelter in Vegas, in the midst of all that decadence. So sad that we have so many hurting people in this country and not enough compassion to go around. You sound like a social worker. :) Good for you for volunteering but even more so for making the connections and seeing the bigger picture. It will be great for you and them if you get involved further.
I'd forgotten about that, Jane! Yeah, I think the social worker gene is strong in our family-at least in the women! And teaching is very closely related. One of my teacher friends, as a matter of fact, retired at the same time as I did, and she's getting a new degree in...you guessed it- social work!
That's interesting....but bless her heart! She should do something more fun. haha
You all amaze me with your acive involvement! Your small world(s) are better places because of your concern.
Thanks, Mom- you do your share, too!
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