Be the Cause

HOLY MOLY

i am blessed.
the universe has decided to shower me with gifts. i think i’m going to collapse from the Lose Weight Exercise

last week Madhavi and I were manning a BTC booth. we were giving out Tsunamikas, which are these tiny hand-made dolls sewn together from scraps by women who survived the tsunami in India. People kept asking us how much they cost, and we kept saying freeeeee!

a woman gets out her checkbook and we tell her we’re not accepting donations today…
she presses a $40 check into my hand anyway.

* * *

on Thanksgiving we’re preparing a meal for 200 people at the homeless drop-in center. for the last few weeks we’ve been trying to solicit ingredients and/or gift certificate donations from grocery stores, with very little luck.

then Trader Joes says they will give me about $30 worth of groceries.
i walk down an aisle trying to figure out what to buy, and one of the store managers runs up to me with a cart. we start throwing things into the basket…what about this what about that do you want some of this? i say can i get corn? OK! and we practically fly thru the store like contestants in Supermarket Sweep. i look at our cart and i ask him is this too much?
he says let’s get more…

when we get to the checkout i’m $20 over. i look at him and he says “good, girl” then he’s gone! he zips off with the receipt, i barely have time to say thank you.

* * *

i’m looking for Thanksgiving decorations for the event, 99 cent store doesn’t have much of a selection so i go with natural beauty: leaves and sticks. i drive around on random errands and all of a sudden it seems the streets are littered with orange and gold leaves! Even the trees give me gifts! on my way home i get out of my car to collect pine cones.

* * *

someone is not letting me pay. so when i go out to eat with BTC, magically my bill is paid. when i get to the counter, the cashier won’t take my money. or the waitress tells me an anonymous person has covered me. and i know who it is! i know its him, most of the time.
but it still happens even when he’s not there.

speaking of, the other night he cut in front of me at the parking structure exit, then when i pulled up to the kiosk the parking attendant smiled and told me to go through because someone had already paid my parking fee. do you see what i mean?

all the time….

* * *

i’m going to Sri Lanka next month… my mom doesn’t exactly approve, and occasionally she will let me hear it.
when am i going to start working again? that’s a popular question too

although her words disagree sometimes, at the end of the day her actions support me 100%
and the reality is, i know that i would not be going, if not for my parents.
i could not spend my time volunteering right now, if not for my parents.

i know i’ll have to go back to work eventually, but this time right now is a gift

everyday is a gift

and i am collapsing…..

lights on

this past weekend at Lights On was quiet
only a few people were released
but there were 2 people I got to spend a lot of time talking to

one was a girl who spent a month in jail for missing a DUI meeting
she spent those 30 days thinking and getting her life in order
she’s from San Diego but she wants to come back to Santa Ana every weekend to give the girls in jail free color and cuts (she’s a hair stylist) to make them feel pretty :)
the kind of energy she gave off was so positive and wonderful…I am still smiling from it.
when her ride picked her up, she even came back to give us food

another guy stopped by the RV for some coffee, he was an older man who was released from jail a long time ago but lost everything while serving his time and has since been homeless.
he talked about how both of his parents died while he was in prison and he couldn’t do anything about it
his advice: if you have a mother, tell her you love her!!
the more he spoke, the more my heart broke…he was was the sweetest man ever but he’s been through so much
he’d say things like i know it will get better. you guys are here with me tonight i’m so lucky!

it goes both ways, we are so lucky to have each other

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