I never noticed just how many homeless beggars there are in Jacksonville. It hits you a little bit differently though when most of these homeless beggars are elderly. It made me even sadder because if I was to look at just their faces they didn't seem very much different from my grandmother's.
A close friend and I were out one day when we saw a very elderly beggar who was picking through the garbage trying to find a meal. You could instantly tell by the expression on my friend's face that she was disgusted. Seeing her reaction I assumed that she was disgusted because the beggar was eating out of the trash. I commented that even though it was gross what the elderly beggar was doing, she was just hungry and trying to survive.
My friend wasn't disgusted that the elderly woman was eating out of the trash; she was appalled that somewhere this woman had a family and that they would let her do this.
My initial response was that even if she did have family they were probably in the same situation that she was in so they couldn't really do anything to help her. Before I could finish the sentence she firmly stated that she would sell her body before she would ever let that happen to her mom.
I was left speechless not only because who it was coming from (my friend is very proper, proud and conservative) but because I could tell by her voice that she completely meant it. At that moment I gained a whole new respect for my friend.
No poem or gift can express what love truly is better than that.
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