Life is hard enough, but when you can’t afford the necessities of life, it is even more difficult.
I had been friends with a family for several years before I realized they didn’t have the necessities that made life easy.
I knew their kids didn’t join after-school activities. There wasn’t a lot of new clothing, and the hand-me-downs were obviously hand-me-downs, which were nothing new to my kids. What surprised me was when my daughter came home from school and said their daughter was saving food from school. I took a walk over to Pat’s house to see how he was doing. I found out he hadn’t worked in almost a year, and he was having a tough time making ends meet. He said it was all he could do to pay the mortgage since he wasn’t working. There was nothing left over for other necessities, and he would not make the family homeless. I had been a HVAC tech for years, and I knew our HVAC company was looking to hire a new part guy since he had gotten his HVAC certification. I told him I remembered he wasn’t working and hoped that if he still wasn’t working; would he like a job in the HVAC company? I have never seen a man cry tears of happiness like Pat did. He gave me a hug and asked if they would help him to get a new furnace before winter set in, if he was working for them. I told him they would help- him with a new furnace even if he wasn’t working for them. Six weeks later, he had a new job and a new furnace.