It will stay with me forever.

.
I was working a corporate job I hated but the money was decent. It was about three days before Christmas.

I’d headed to the supermarket for groceries and in the ice cream section I found a woman weeping. I asked her what was wrong and she explained that her husband had cleared out the house and taken all his belonging plus the furniture etc when she was picking their four children up from school and daycare (apparently it was an hour round trip due to where they all attended school and daycare).

He had also taken a the money she had been saving up for the kids Christmas presents.

She had done her best to console the kids but it was tough and the youngest just wanted ice cream. (a neighbour was watching the kids whilst they were watching a movie on a borrowed TV).

This mother couldn’t afford a whole tub of ice-cream.

It was truly heartbreaking.

I told her I’d go find out what was available in smaller tubs etc and come back.

I rushed back to the registers, quickly filled in the staff and got them to work with trolleys and my credit card.

I then got a trolley and asked the mother to keep me company whilst I grabbed a few things. We got talking again and she was able to share more about her situation.

As we walked around the supermarket, she began weeping again as she saw all the things she wouldn’t be able to afford for her kid.

I asked her for her address and explained that I worked in Child Protection and showed her my ‘Working With Children’ card.

The mother gave it to me. I asked her to go through the checkout with me and she looked surprised but said sure.

I asked her if she minded me helping her with some groceries and she said that was to much but she felt there was no choice – I sent her home with a trolley full of groceries and then paid for the other three trolleys worth of stuff due to be delivered on Christmas eve – the staff were amazing and decided they’d all come back after the store closed (the store owner and managers had agreed-whilst I was with the mother they organised the whole thing!) and take all the gifts to the mother – they even chipped in wrapping paper for the gifts.

I try to do good things where I can and this is one I don’t often talk about as when I previously have I find people think I’m either lying or crazy and have more money than sense.

The next day I took the day off and went around to all the local furniture and white good and electrical stores and got them to donate a house full of furniture etc.

It’s one of the things I think will stay with me forever.

I never saw the mother again but for me the knowledge that I helped prevent a terrible Christmas be simply awful is a reward that made it worth the money I spent. – Megs ♥