Pay it forward.......

He had been searching for a dry place to sleep for hours. 

His legs were aching, his feet swollen, and every coughing-fit he had almost knocked him to the ground. Standing in the doorway of a deserted office building, back against the glass doors, suddenly he had a feeling that he needed to turn around and face the doors.

So he did. Taped to the front door was a poster of a missing cat. "Poor kid" he thought, "I bet she is real sad about the kitty going missing".  Gently as to not damage the poster, he removed it, folded it neatly, and then put it in his trouser pocket. "I'm going to look for the cat, moving about will at least keep me warm" he said to himself as left the doorway and walked out into the rain.

"Is this 55-0534172?" 

"Yes, it is, who is calling please? a woman asked.

"Mam, you don't know me, but I think I have found Missy, your cat, and I wonder if you would like me to bring her to you?"

"Really? You have found Missy, oh, I am so glad and yes please, please bring her to us, here, let me give you our address."

Standing in front of the brownstone with the cat inside his jacket, he felt nervous. The building looked well cared for, there were flower boxes, a welcome mat and and a gold plated plaque with a name on it. He felt out of place, and very self-conscious of his disheveled appearance.

Contemplating whether to just ring the door bell and leave the cat on the mat, the door suddenly flung open.

"She is here, Missy is back!" a girl's voice excitedly exclaimed.

Before he knew it, the cat jumped out of his jacket and ran towards the little girl.

The girl scooped up the cat in her arms, hugged it, and showered it with little girl kisses.

"John, please come in out of the rain and let me reward you for your effort, we are so grateful that you have brought Missy back to us." 

The mother had a purse in her hand and was about to hand him some money when he stopped her. "No, mam, I don't want any money. Seeing how happy it made your daughter to have her Missy back is enough."

The mother nodded her head, smiled, and then asked: "How about a nice, warm over-coat then, we have a spare and it would please me if I could give it to you, so would that be okay?"

A few minutes later he walked out of the brownstone proudly wearing a warm, almost brand new, woolen over-coat and a big smile on his face.

"Mom, the man who brought Missy back, was he a homeless person?"

"Could be Lisa", answered the mother.

"Could we do something nice for other homeless people? Like, could we give away the toys and clothes that I don't use anymore, and maybe you and daddy have some stuff you could give away as well to the homeless?" asked Lisa.

The next day Lisa and her mother drove to the homeless shelter and dropped off boxes loaded with clothes, toys, blankets, towels, and cans of food. 

At the homeless shelter, Lydia and her two small boys quietly sipped their hot drinks. 

Clara, one of the volunteers at the shelter who knew Lydia and the boy's circumstances, 

grabbed two large blankets out of the newly dropped off boxes, and walked up to Lydia. "These should keep you nice and warm, here, hang on to these, and boys, there are some toys in one of the boxes. 

Why don't you come with me and choose some?" Clara said as she took their hands and lead them to the box of toys.

Amy, a runaway, watched the boys faces light up as they rummaged through the box of toys.

It reminded her of happier days when her family was still whole and how excited she and her brother used to be on Christmas mornings. "Amy, look, look what I found! I found a little horsie and you like horses don't you Amy? Here Amy, I wanna give it to you cos you like horses so much!"
Roland, Lydia's youngest said as he handed over the figurine to Amy. Against her will, Amy felt touched by Roland's gesture. 

She knew that Lydia and her boy's had fled an abusive relationship with nothing more to their name than their clothes on their backs, and that for two weeks they had had to call the homeless shelter "home". In spite of all the horrid stuff Lydia and her boys had been and still were going through, somehow Roland was still able try to make her happy?

Roland's gesture seemed to melt something inside of her, because for the first time in a long time, 

she wanted to hear her brother's voice, her mother's voice, and even her father's voice,

 although he was a major douche-bag. 

With the little toy horse in one hand, and the phone in the other, Amy dialed home.

"Amy? Is that you? It's so good to hear your voice again". Amy's mother could hardly breathe when she heard her daughter's voice. 

After Amy and her mother had finished their conversation, Amy's mother put on her coat and walked 

to the Salvation Army Youth Center nearby. She walked up to one of the youth workers and said: "I want to make a donation, can I do it here?"

"Sure you can, what kind of donation would you like to make?" asked the youth worker.

"I would like to give you a cheque, is that okay?"

Amy's mother took out her cheque book, wrote a sum on the cheque and handed it to the youth worker.

Impressed by the number on the cheque the youth worker thanked Amy's mother and said: "Thank you so very much, you have no idea how helpful this will be for the Center."

Amy's mother smiled and then said: "I believe in paying it forward."

"Our job on earth isn't to criticize, reject or judge. Our purpose it to offer a helping hand, compassion and mercy. We are to do unto others as we hope they would do unto us."

(Dana Acuri)