“We do not need guns and bombs to
bring peace, we need love and compassion.”
― Mother Theresa
He wanted spare change. He sat
outside the courthouse in his tattered clothes; every indication that he was in
some stage of homelessness. She reached into her purse and grabbed a dollar.
She could have walked past him. She was headed to her internship on a busy
Monday morning. But she stopped and gave him a dollar. She’s well-known for
befriending homeless people. Sometimes she tells me that they even walk her to
her classes…some even know her by name. A kind gesture from a poor college
student. Her duties as an intern are to assist the judge in every aspect of the
courtroom. The judge even asks her for her opinion on rulings, such as “What
would you do if this were your case?”. Seated next to the judge, during a busy Monday
morning, she spots the ‘homeless man’ sitting in the crowd of people waiting to
see a judge. Immediately she notices that he is devouring a chocolate Snickers
bar to the point, which she describes it to me as, “Mom, it was ALL OVER HIS
FACE!”. The judge saw it too and
reprimanded the man by telling him to “eat like a grown up”, followed by asking
him if he needs a napkin before the courtroom continues. She said it brought
tears to her eyes because she knew it was the man she gave the dollar to outside
the courthouse and that he must have been really hungry. The man proceeded to
tell the judge that it was the only thing he has eaten for the last couple of
days and says (pointing to my daughter), “the girl next to you gave me the
dollar so I could eat”. A thankful stranger. A tearful daughter. A room full of
strangers. Nobody knew anyone’s story…where they lived…who they were…why they
were there….She proceeded to recall the events to follow. He was being evicted
and he had nowhere to live. He was requesting the judge allow him to stay in
his apartment for just enough time to gather the little belongings that he had
and to take a shower because he knew his destiny was a life on the streets. The
judge, noticing the tears in her eyes, asked her how he should resolve the
case. She said I would let him take a shower one last time at his soon to be
lost apartment. And he did just that. And for a small moment in time their
paths crossed. He was more than a homeless man outside a courtroom. She was
more than an intern. They were human beings…caring for human beings. She stayed
over my house for a slumber party that night. We talked about her day in court.
She actually always talks about the ‘wounded birds’ and the ‘out-of-luckers’.
The moms who are trying to feed their kids. The thiefs who are trying to feed
their families. The people who don’t know the right way to solve their
problems. We laid in bed together as she shared her stories. A show called
Intervention came on. Families dealing with drug addictions and all the illegal
issues that surround that disease. We laid in my warm bed with four dogs at my
feet…with the heat comfortably set on 67 degrees…after we washed our faces and
brushed our teeth…after we texted all our family and friends who wait for their
daily ‘Good Night My Love’ texts. We watched the families on tv struggling to
save their children or mothers or fathers or sisters and brothers from
themselves. I said that I was so glad that I will never have to go through that
with my children…she agreed…because they felt loved and they felt needed and
they felt wanted and important…she agreed. And we closed our eyes knowing that
we figured it out…we grew into a family that knows that we stand together…with love in our hearts...no
matter what…forever. As I fell asleep I thanked God and all my guardian angels guiding
my life that my children grew into the people that they are today; people who
know that they are loved…feel that they are loved…and have the compassion to
extend that wisdom to all people…even the guy sitting outside a courtroom…when no
one else was looking.
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