Mike  
I used to work at a warehouse that was
down the street from a homeless shelter. It was right next door to a
little gas station where they made breakfast sandwiches daily and I
would walk over before my shift started and get a sandwich and a coke
every morning. There was always someone or the other standing around
outside asking for money to get something to eat. As a single mother I
rarely had money to spare but sometimes I would give them my change
until I noticed most of them would go inside and buy a beer with the
money instead of food. I stopped giving out my change and just told
them I didn't have any.

One day as I was walking out of the store, I
noticed an old black man who was obviously homeless.  However,
interestingly, he was always wearing a nice suit and tie and just
sitting on the sidewalk watching the cars go by. When I walked past
him, he asked me in a very kind voice if I had any change to spare so
he could get a sandwich.  Before I could say a word, he added that he
wasn't wanting "beer money". I had just enough money in my pocket that
day to pay for another sandwich and a can of coke.  So, I just walked
back inside the store, without saying a word, and bought him some
breakfast.  When I came out and gave it to him, his eyes lit up and he
said "God bless you ma'am!" We sat and talked for a minute before I had
to get to work.

It became an everyday ritual.  Whenever I had the
money to spare I would buy 2 sandwiches and 2 cokes and we would sit
outside the store, have our breakfast together in the parking lot and
talk for a while until it was time for me to go to work. I found out
that Mr. Massey had been a preacher before he went off to war. He had
lost one of his legs while overseas and when he came back he couldn't
find work and had been homeless ever since. He still preached, but now
it was on Sundays at the homeless shelter and a local thrift store
donated a new suit to him every week.

For a while I had stopped buying our breakfast
every morning because my son's birthday was coming up and I was saving
up every penny I could to buy him some gifts. I told Mr. Massey the
reason why I couldn't afford to buy our breakfasts and he said he
understood, but would still like to sit and talk with me if it was ok.
He said it was the high point of his day. So we still had our chats
every morning but without the breakfast.

My son's birthday finally came and I was feeling
really depressed because I only had the money to get him a few little
things after all the bills were paid. I walked out to my car to go home
that afternoon and to my surprise, there in the seat sat 3 bags from
Toys 'R Us full of toys, a gift card to Kroger for a birthday cake and
inside was a card that said "Happy Birthday Chris!" with a little
smiley face. When I stood up, I could see Mr. Massey walking away from
the warehouse parking lot, joyfully whistling the melody for "Happy
Birthday."

The next day when it came time for our morning
chat, he had a big grin on his face. I asked Mr. Massey if he had left
the gifts in my car. He avoided the question and with a glitter in his
eye, asked if Chris had a good birthday. I never got him to give me a
straight answer about the birthday gifts but I knew it was him.  Not
too long after that, Mr. Massey passed away but every year on my son's
birthday, he gets a card in the mail with no return address that says
nothing but "Happy Birthday Chris!" with a little smiley face. Is it
from Mr Massey? Did my path cross with Mr. Massey to help get me
through that rough time in my life? I'm not sure but I save every card
my son gets so when he gets older I can tell him about our friend, Mr.
Massey.







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May 17th 2008 11:25