She Tried To Ignore This Elderly Woman In Wal-Mart Asking For Help, Until She Learns The Truth. This Is Heartbreaking.

Thanks to E. Poole for sharing his story on SunnySkyz.

I went into Walmart to grab three things: Fruit Loops, eggs and waffles. Healthy, I know. While I was shopping, this woman was walking around, asking people for something. I decided immediately that I was going to need to bypass her. Get my things, and go. When she made her way to me, she didn't stretch out her hand and ask me for money. No. She asked me to stop. Women_grocery_shopping_95f583f509fabc1cfbc4d2a9ae9359f2

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I figured she was just going to ask for money anyway, and I had already decided that I was going to politely let her know that I didn't have any cash on me. I never carry cash. Typically I don't mind giving a few bucks if I have it, and what they do with it is their business. But again, I was wrong. As she continued speaking, she wasn't asking for money. Although I felt a bit impatient, something inside me told me that I needed to listen to her. After she started talking, she asked me if I could help pay for her groceries for her family. I looked in the cart. There wasn't much, mostly healthy items. She proceeded to tell me that she had recently turned her daughter into the police for her drug addiction. She knew it was harsh, but it was the only thing she could think to do. She knew that otherwise, she would ruin her life, or perhaps overdose. As a result, she had taken in all 6 of her grand children, one of whom was a 2 month old baby that had been born with an addiction to crack cocaine. She hadn't expected to have to feed so many mouths this late in her life, so hadn't planned for it financially. She did the only thing she could - asked people like me to help her. By the end of our chat, she was sobbing. Smiling_Children_3965280057_c2807a9d00ec109dc9894809f6bc1c60

Smiling_Children_3965280057_c2807a9d00ec109dc9894809f6bc1c60

See, I know stories like this to be FACT from working in an inner-city school and my husband working in a hospital. Babies are unfortunately born addicted all the time and responsibility of raising grand babies often falls on the grandparents. She asked me again if I would help her buy groceries. [nextpage title="Continue to the next page for the rest of this story."] I looked at what I had in my hands compared to what she had. She had shopped smart and had healthy food: bananas, bell peppers, meat, pancakes, etc. Practical things you would make meals with and feed children. "Yes," I said. "I'll help you. But I want you to do something first." "What?" "Go to aisle five and grab yourself some diapers for the baby. I'll meet you at the front."

She sobbed, said hallelujah, and smiled. Yesterday, I turned 30, had my healthy family by my side, ate tons of crawfish and blew $20 at the casino for the heck of it.

Yesterday, I didn't realize how lucky I had it. I check my humanity today. This woman was asking for help for the most basic need - the need to eat, to feed the mouths of children back home. Even if she wasn't telling the truth, I don't even care in the least. She's human, I'm human and today she helped me realize a few things. I hope that I helped her. She won't have to worry for at least a little while about food. I didn't expect this today, but apparently I was right where I needed to be. I will always be thankful for that.