Everywhere you turn, you see men with signs stating, “Homeless Vet, will work for food or money.” It’s a sad fact but with so many scams,
we as humans tend to look the other way when we see these people.
But there was this one man that stood out from the crowd. Every time we went to the Post Office, he was there. He would sit in front of
the Post Office, off to the corner. He never asked for money with words, but he did have a sign. He would say good morning or good
afternoon to those that walked by and they would say it back. You could say that he was the greeter of the post office. He always had a
way of making you feel warm and welcomed when you entered the post office.
Once, we asked a postal worker about the vet. We were told that he had been hanging out at the post office for about a year. They said
that he was a nice man and could tell some good stories about his days in the service. Although we were never lucky enough to hear those
stories, the compassion the postal workers had for him told us a lot about the integrity of this man.
He wore the same clothes every day. And he never had a jacket, regardless of the whether. He had a wheelchair and could not walk.
Being a vet himself, my husband decided that he wanted to buy this man some food. So we got back into our car, drove over to Carl’s Jr.
and purchased him a value meal. When we returned, we handed him the food. He had a look of surprise on his face as he said, “thank you.”
He commenced to eat as though he had not eaten in weeks. I will never forget how he scarfed down that food.
From that point on, whenever we would go to the post office, we always brought him a value meal from Carl’s Jr. It got to the point that
the minute this man saw us, his face would light up with a smile. We didn’t look down upon him. We didn’t condemn him. We didn’t make
him feel belittled. We simply accepted him.
Winter came and the whether got colder and colder, and still he had no jacket. Then one day, the whether got really bad. It was raining
cats and dogs. It was extremely cold and still, he had no jacket. We got back into our car and began to drive away when my husband
stopped the car. I asked what he was doing and he said, “I’ll be right back.”
My husband went to the trunk, opened it up and pulled out his favorite leather jacket. He looked at it, then looked at me, then looked
at the vet. I knew right then and there that jacket that meant so much to my husband was going to a new home. He closed the trunk,
walked over to the vet and handed the vet his jacket. The vet graciously declined this kind gesture, but my husband would not take no
for an answer.
My husband said, “I have another one at home, you take it. I want you to have it.”
The vet began to say, “NO…” when my husband turned and walked away.
I watched with teary eyes, as the vet placed one arm at a time into his new jacket. Once on, the vet looked down at his new blanket of
warmth, stroked his hand across the smooth leather, looked up at the direction of our car, and smiled.
I knew my husband was a good man, but sometimes, even he could amaze me.
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is a mixed media artist, freelance writer, and aspiring photographer. She enjoys creating things that bring joy
to others. Visit our her blog, Coming Home, to check out her latest art. Or
stop by her resume site, AlyiceEdrich.net to learn how you can hire her for your
next project.
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