Kindness costs nothing

It has been a couple of years since I met this man. I don’t even remember his name, but what I do remember was having to go to my lawyers office and I was in a pretty bad mood that morning. As I was going through a very messy divorce and feeling very defeated. I was running out of money to pay my lawyer and was on my way to hand him $2,000, that I had worked so hard to get. The man in the picture was standing on the street corner with his sign begging for help. He was a veteran and homeless. All his belongings fitting in one very old army duffel bag. Well I went on to my lawyers office and when I left the man was still there. I parked my car and walked up to the man and asked him if he’d like to eat lunch with me. We were just a few feet from Mission BBQ. We walked in and I remember him looking at me as if he wanted to know what was okay to order. I told him to get whatever he wanted. He did and asked me if he could have a brownie that was sitting by the registered next to some cookies. I told him to grab two and I grabbed a couple of cookies and handed them to him. He quickly tucked them in his bag. We got our food and had a seat. While we were sitting there eating the Mission BBQ staff kept stopping by our table and telling him thank you for his service. It’s just something they do there. After a while the man began to cry telling me thank you for his lunch and that I was the best thing since sliced bread. (His words)Needless to say he had not been shown any kindness in a very long time, which had us both crying. He showed me his metals he had received during his service and he tried to give me one, to show his appreciation. I told him thank you but no I couldn’t take his metal. I remember one was the Purple Heart, one was specifically for the Vietnam War, and I think the other was the metal of valor. He even told me about meeting President Eisenhower, which is nothing like you think it would be. We talked for a while he asked about me. I told him I was going through a divorce and was headed to my lawyers office when I saw him. I explained to him that I had spent my last bit of money on our lunch until I get my next paycheck. He started crying again and telling me thank you. I said it was fine and that I’d be okay, for him not to worry about it, that he had been the best lunch date I had in a while. He just cracked up laughing then. He asked me why I was getting a divorce, to which I told him. His eyes filled with tears as mine did as I talked. He told me my ex was stupid to let me go and asked me if I wanted him to take “care” of him. I laughed and said no it wasn’t worth all that. He explained to me that he had been waiting on Veteran Affairs to help him get a place to stay. He had been staying at the homeless shelter, but had maxed out the amount of days he was allowed to stay there. Finally our lunch came to an end. He hugged my neck, told me thank you and went back to the street corner he was standing on. I don’t advice everyone to do this and honestly I had never done it before. I just felt something pulling at my heart strings when I saw him. I haven’t seen him since, but I often wonder how he’s doing and if he’s okay. I share this picture every year when it shows up on my timeline. Maybe one day our paths will cross again someday. I pray that things worked out for him and that all is well.