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ShAdOwCoN

this is a touching story mailed to me .... read it

Breakfast at McDonalds

This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!):


I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology.



The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.



Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'



The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.




I am a very friendly person and always smile at e veryone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.




Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.



It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.



We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.




I did not move an inch... An overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.



As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.



As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.




He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.



The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.




I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).




Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.



That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.




I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.



I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.



He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'



I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'




I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.'




We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.



We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.



I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.



I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'




I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.



In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.



I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn : Unconditional Acceptance :



Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

Punch Farce

where's the punch line man?

-F

ShAdOwCoN

This is nt a joke ... i posted it in the wrong sub-section without realising it...

Must have been in the Off-topic section

Admin

Moved

Punch Farce

Oh, I see. well here is another story that I came across some time back.

-F



Jane
-------


It was a cold December night many years back. I had to get some stuff from
Kmart that day so I drove there after work and parked my car and walked
toward the store. Since it was just before Christmas there were a few
people selling candles, flowers, candy etc. This young woman
approaches me and asks me to buy some candy. Since I didn't want to
carry all the candy inside the store I told her that I would buy it
when I came back from the store. I went inside Kmart and spent mucho
time browsing stuff (anyone who has gone shopping with me will attest
to the fact that I'll stay there until the shop closes and they kick me
out). Anyway at about 9 pm I sauntered out and there was this girl
sitting and shivering waiting for me. I asked her why she didn't go
home and she said that the two dollar candy that I promised I would buy
from her would help her buy groceries for her three kids. Yeah right I
thought, do you think I am that gullible. Anyway I felt bad for her
and offered to buy something to eat in the Lucky across the street.


So we went to the Lucky store and got some groceries.
I found out that her husband was an alcoholic and was
abusing her and her kids and that she had come away from her husband
and was living with her sister. She seemed to be a really smart person.
She said she was 26 years old and had three kids. The oldest was 5 year
old Cathy, then there was 3 year old Tom and the youngest was 15
month old Maude. She was of Greek descent and spoke a mixture of
Greek and Hungarian. She was beautiful but you could see the pain and
suffering in her eyes. She was poignantly pretty I would say. She asked
me if I would like to meet the kids and I said yes still being a
skeptic and trying to see if she was really telling the truth. I gave
her my phone number and told her to call me the next day. She called me
the next day and we agreed to meet at the Dennys restaurant across from
Kmart.


The next day I went to Dennys expecting to be stood up but what a
surprise, she was waiting there all dressed up and positively radiant.
She had with her Cathy and Tom because the youngest Maude was a
little sick. They were adorable kids and I instantly liked them. We had
dinner and were talking and she asked me if I could buy the kids some
clothes for Christmas. I said OK and we went to Ross stores and bought
a lot of clothes.

(at this point people might seriously doubt my sanity, here I was
spending $400 on a total stranger that I just met, but then sometimes
we think with our heart and not our brain ;-)) Just seeing the joy on
their faces was worth more than the money I spent. I realized they
probably didn't have new clothes in a long time.

I then dropped her and the kids off at her sister's place and went home
thinking I'll never hear from her again now that she got all the stuff
she needed, but she called the next day and asked me to come over for
dinner. I went to her home and she had made some lamb stew and some
bread. It was very nice traditional Greek food.

(authors note: remember the story about Maude I wrote a long time
back, insert that story here)

I took my camera to their place and took a lot of pictures of her and
the kids. It was great fun spending time with them. The kids became so
attached to me and I became attached to them.

She then moved to another city to her cousin's place and I would go there
almost everyday after work and spend a lot of time with them. I used to
take them to the Valleyfair mall and buy stuff for them. Jane was
very smart and was a great conversationalist. It was fun to talk to her
and was great company.

It gave me sense of purpose in my otherwise drab existence. I
was glad I had the oppurtuinity to provide emotional and financial
support to people who really needed them.

I was also financially not in too good a condition and I
couldn't continue supporting four people. Well, to make a
long story short we had a wonderful time together for a couple
of months. Her cousin and aunt had to move to another city.
I had the choice to rent an apartment here and put them up here.
I realized I couldn't afford that at this time, and having a
single apartment and living with them didn't seem too wise. For a
change I was thinking with my brain instead of my heart.
I told her that I was not ready to give them the
fairy tale she wanted. She had no choice but to move to the other city with
her aunt. I promised to keep in touch and help her if she needed anything.
She was sad but resigned to reality. I really felt miserable and
missed the kids very much.

She is in the other city now and keeps in touch. She calls me now and then
but not as often as I would like to talk to her. She doesn't have a
phone and calls from a pay phone so that's the reason I keep checking
my answering machine messages so often ;-) because I can't call her
back. She hasn't called me for a couple of months and I am worried about
her. I hope she calls me soon. It is a sickening feeling not knowing
where she is or if she is ok (kind of like Keifer Sutherland in the
movie "The Vanishing"). I haven't lost hope yet.

I keep hoping that she'll call..

I miss Jane and her kids...

I will be waiting for her phone call...

I will keep checking my answering machine messages...




-Freddy

p.s It is really nice when you expect nothing but are rewarded
with a nice relationship. I did not expect to hear from her
after she got to charge my credit cards, but we did develop
a nice friendship that I'll cherish with all my other
wonderful experiences...