Pride

I was reminded today just how fortunate I am to be Dakota's mom. He is a kind, thoughtful, giving guy. Then I was reminded how fortunate I am, period.

here's the story: Today the sad tale of a new neighbor boy came to my attention. It seems that he has come to stay with his aunt and uncle with almost nothing, just two pairs of pants, two shirts, one pair of undies, one pair of socks and part of a pair of shoes. That's all. Nothing else. The boy is slightly smaller than my Duck, so I called him up, thinking perhaps he had some things he had grown out of. I talked to Duck's dad, and just about an hour later there was a knock at my door and Duck standing there with two bags full of his clothes to share with a kid he never even met. I am very proud of Dakota for understanding about those less fortunate than him and being willing to help.

here's the kicker though: I took those bags of clothes to my neighbor for her to give to the boy. She had the boy come out and see his "new" clothes before I left. You could tell he was somewhat uncomfortable, I thought maybe he was embarrassed to be getting things from a stranger, so I told him "hey, you can check that stuff out later if you would rather, its just clothes, no big deal". He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said "Clothes are a big deal when you don't have any. Thank you." I was seriously humbled. This boy of ten or eleven showed me, in that moment, how good my life really is. Both of my sons have fathers who love them and are able to provide them nice things to wear, toys to play with, enough food to eat. I take for granted my closet and two dressers full of clothes. I think nothing of having a rack of movies I don't watch. It seems normal to me to be able to get up and graze in our kitchen full of food.

I will try to remember this lesson, all of us should.