Hi girls!! Boy, today was a very rough day for me for several reasons. First I went to see my counselor who I LOVE to pieces. She is helping me work through many things that I have not dealt with and she is really just a huge gift to me. Never have I felt this way about any counselor before but she IS just a huge huge gift to me!! After my appointment which was over around 1pm Hallie (who went with me today) and I were driving down a well known road. I can't tell you which road it is (to protect him and his kids, he asked me to do this) and I will tell you why in a second. It was about a month ago that I met up with this man who was walking down a major road and I had to stop and give money to. Anytime I see someone who needs help I am always the one to stop. I don't care how they look or if I may put myself in danger. Just a note before I go on, I have never been in danger ever for stopping and giving to someone in need!! Since I met him before I knew he was ok and so I knew I was ok too. So I had to drive about 1/4 of a mile going the opposite direction and had to turn around and try to catch up with him. He was on foot so I know I could catch up with him. But I was determined to stop and talk to him. I finally caught up to him and I got out of my car and had Hallie stay in the car with the doors locked (even though I know this man is virtually harmless but just to be on the safe side I had her stay inside with all doors and windows locked). I got out and I asked him if he remembered me and he did. I stood in the burning heat for over 30 minutes talking to this man (who I promised that I would not give out his name or where he walks because his children are getting bullied and they are getting pretty much attacked anywhere they go. When I heard that it made me SICK! This is wrong and should NOT happen. It is not those childrens fault. Some people are just sick! This is just a very sad situation to me. He has a sign on his back that says this..Exactly word for word this is what is says..
"'I'm Not A Bum! I Need Work! I Have 2 Children 2 Take Care Of. Christian Family" He does not panhandle and refuses to take any sort of pity. I cried for most of my visit with him. Here was this man who walks 15 to 20 miles EACH and EVERY day and he is trying to cheer me up. He asked me about my medicine that is a lollipop and what is was for. I explained about my total joint replacement and what happened and he was doing all he could to make ME feel better. I could NOT believe it. I gave him all of the money that I had (normally we don't carry cash, we use our check card or credit cards). It ended up only being $17.36 and I felt like such a LOSER that I could not give him or help him any more. He said that 1 out of 100 hundred cars will stop and some only hand him pennies some just call him bad names and harrass him! Seriously?? Pennies? Hallie and I were on our way to Chick-Fila and I asked him if I could take him with us to feed him lunch. He said he was not hungry because he just ate 2 hours before. I then asked him if I could bring him some food back to take home. He said no because it probaly would not good in the heat. Then I asked him if he needed a ride somewhere and of course again he said no. So I wanted to look at his sign close up with many many tears in my eyes and streaming down my face and his sign is very old, tattered and in not very good condition at all so I asked him if I could make him a brand new sign. He told me that the one he had was ok and for me not to go through the trouble. Well, I am not one to take No very easily. So I finally convinced him that I would make him a brand new sign. His only worry was that it could NOT be fancy because his thoughts were if people saw him with a fancy sign then he if afraid that they would think that he could afford other things. Made perfect sense to me. I was obviously going to use my Cricut to make it but I wanted to keep it super simple. So I went and bought one of those foam poster boards that has foam in between the layers of poster board. Do you all know what I am talking about? So, I bought him that and then I found some basic black adhesive letters that are made by Art Skills..it has 310 pieces, including 10 of each letters and some numbers. I think it cost a little less then $5.00. I mean, I would LOVE to bling his poster all out but I completely understand why he wants it very simple and plain and that is what he will get. He has a rope with a little hole on each side that he cut with a knife or something so I am going to use grommets, heavy duty grommets so that the board will not rip. Anyhow, I felt so bad for crying because of his situation and here he was lifting me up the whole time!! Amazing! This man is just amazing! He said he did not want pity, he did not want people to think he was a bum, he had dignity and I definetly saw that dignity in him and it was crystal clear to me today!! I ended up giving him my phone numbers so he can call me if he needs school clothes, school supplies, food or anything that he may need for his kids or himself. I would be so happy to help him in anyway that I can. This man is VERY special but is just very down on his luck. So this weekend I am going to make him a simple sign but that is neater so that people will be able to read it better. I will post pictures of us the making his new sign when Hallie, Casey and I sit down to make it.
This was my Pay It Forward for today. And he was the most PERFECT choice to Pay It Forward!! I only wish you could meet him!! You would be so amazed!!
What I would like to ask of all of you and this may seem, um, I don't know what word to use, But.. I would like to see if any of you would like to donate even $1.00 or $2.00 or what ever you feel you can donate to help him and his children. If you could send it to my paypal account and I will prove to you that every single penny will go to this man. If you cannot donate anything this time, that is 100% okay and I understand!! No need to tell me why you are unable to do this. This man is NOT a drunk, he is not a smoker, all he really wants to do is get a job to support his family. We all want that! I cannot help him with that right now but I would love to give him a little bit of money when I see him this coming Monday. You can send it to my personal paypal account and my email is Terrico3@ameritech.net. Because I am asking you all to open your hearts I am getting a little giveaway together for you all. Maybe I will have 2 or 3 winners. These will be simple things but it will be a showing of gratitude for opening your heart and helping this man who is so desperate to help his children!! That is ALL he wants. As you can tell I take things like this so personal. My whole counseling appointment today was about my 2 friends who are going through very tragic situations and now I am really worried about him. If each of you could at least donate $1.00 to this man it could add up to be alot (at least for him) and could put some food on the table for his kids for a few days to a few weeks. If you feel uncomfortable about donating it is really OK!! I understand, and I would never be upset at those who choose not to. It is really really ok. My goal is to help him as much as I can. While Hallie and I were at Chick-Fila I talked to the manager and talked to them about this amazing man who is so down on his luck. They agreed to pay it forward and give him some free meals. How AMAZING is that?? It only takes one person to make a difference but if we ALL get together imagine how much of a difference we can make for this one man and his 2 children?? It could be HUGE! I do want to note that I will not and WOULD NOT keep not one single cent. I am a very honest person who just loves to help those in need. I needed help a long long time ago and I will tell you all that story one day, but I had no one to help me. It hurt so bad I can't even tell you!! But we have the power to help him and trust me when I say that he is worth it, he does NOT want pity, he just wants a simple job. It makes me sad that not one other person stopped to help him in the past week and a half except ME!! How sad is that? So if you could find it in your hearts to donate at least $1.00 or what ever you can or what ever you feel you would like to donate by Monday I would be forever grateful and you would be paying it forward too. Please consider this, it does not matter how much you give but every single cent goes to him. If you do decide to donate in the comment section of paypal (if you have paypal) just put that you are helping "The Man With The Sign". Thank you SO much girls.. let's help him in any way we can. Oh how I hate to ask you but I feel like if we all put a little bit in this could really help him in so many ways. If you have any questions please email me at Terrico3@ameritech.net and I would even be willing to talk to you on the phone if you need to confirm it. What ever you need I will do. Thank you so much and I will post picture of his new poster this weekend. Let's rally together and make a change for this man and his children!! By the way, our 30 minute meeting ended with 2 hugs!! He was worried about getting me sweaty..how sweet is he?? Of course I did not care and I asked for those 2 hugs. I know that was a first for him!! So so sad. I cried for a long time today because I feel helpless and I wish I could help everyone in need!! <sighs>
Much love and many hugs to you ALL!! ~Terri
P.S. This picture you see of him with his sign was the very first time I ever met him. I cried for 30 minutes after giving him some money. He looked so sad and just completely beat down. His health is really bad, I mean really realy bad and he needs help. I do not plan on stopping here. My next goal is to help him get a job. That is all any man wants for his family, a job to be able to support his family. They do not want hand outs or pity. Thank you for reading this and for opening your hearts to this wonderful man who is really down on his luck right now. Let's all get together and make a little difference in his life right now!! Let's Pay It Forward Today!!! Thank you!! Hugs!! ~Terri
