A boy whose family is so poor that they can’t even afford to get enough groceries for a month helps an older woman find her glasses. In return, she travels 5 miles on foot just to feed him.
Jim and his three siblings were raised solely by their mother, Cynthia, in a small trailer after their father died of a heart attack. Unfortunately for them, Cynthia didn’t make a huge living as a tailor, and they barely made ends meet every month.
Besides, Cynthia already had too much on her plate as a single mother to her two three-year-old twin sons, Harry and Kevin, five-year-old daughter, Anne, and seven-year-old son, Jim, so she couldn’t take on additional jobs to supplement their income even if she wanted to.
As a result, she had little choice but to accept their fate and live a life of poverty. Cynthia would occasionally take the kids to the nearby mall when they insisted on going out on weekends, but it was only limited to window shopping because they couldn’t afford anything.
One particular month, Cynthia and her children were at the grocery store, purchasing the month’s supplies, when Jim walked over to an aisle filled with cookie boxes. He was looking wistfully at the differently flavored cookies that his mother couldn’t get him when he heard chuckling from the neighboring aisle.
Jim peered into the aisle and noticed a girl his age filming her grandmother on her phone. “You look funny, Gran! How can you be so silly and lose your glasses?” she said, laughing.
Jim noticed the older woman who kept bumping into the shelves. He felt bad for her and looked around for her glasses, which he luckily found in the vegetable section. Jim hurried up to her and returned her glasses. “They’re here, ma’am,” he said, offering it to her, and the older woman quickly put them on.
“Oh, thank you – thank you, darling,” she mumbled. As her vision became clear, she looked at Jim and smiled warmly. “Thank you so much, honey,” she said. “Oh, I am so forgetful! I can’t see without them, but I keep misplacing them! What is your sweet name?”.
“I’m Jim, ma’am,” he replied before turning to the girl. “You shouldn’t record your granny like that. She could have hurt herself!”
At that, the older woman smiled. “You’re really wise, Jim. By the way, my name is Margaret. Where are your parents?”
“Daddy went to the angel, so my mom looks after me alone. I came here with her and my siblings … I think I should go, Margaret. They must be looking for me!”
“How about you take me there, Jim? I’d like to thank your mother for raising a beautiful boy like you!”
“I’ll take you to her, please come with me,” Jim responded with a smile. Margaret followed him, and soon after, Jim spotted Cynthia at the cashier and ran up to her.
“It could have turned out a lot worse, Margaret!” Cynthia scolded her.
Margaret noticed Cynthia’s shopping basket was empty save for a packet of buns and canned beans, and she knew that wouldn’t be enough for a family of five. From Cynthia’s tired eyes and pale skin, she could also easily deduce the mother-of-four was struggling.
As she thanked Cynthia, Margaret asked the poor woman if she needed any help. Cynthia replied she was fine, but her daughter Kathy spoke out, and Cynthia was embarrassed.
“Mommy, can we ask her to buy us mangoes and milk? She seems nice. She can help us because we don’t have enough money,” she said, making Cynthia’s cheeks flush red with shame.
Margaret felt terrible for them and managed to take Cynthia’s address before leaving. That night, she couldn’t get Cynthia’s face or her children’s needy eyes out of her head, so she decided to help them.
The next day, she baked a pie, bought some fruits and groceries, and headed to Cynthia’s address. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until halfway into the ride that she realized she had boarded the wrong bus after losing her glasses on the way to the bus stop.
Margaret asked the conductor to halt the bus and got off at a location, which she later realized didn’t have any direct buses to Cynthia’s place. The next bus was arriving only 6 hours later. She examined her handbag, but there was no money to pay for a taxi.
Having run out of options, Margaret knew she would have to walk, and she did! She walked 5 miles, asking passersby for directions along the way so she wouldn’t get lost. When she finally arrived at Cynthia’s trailer, she was panting heavily.
Cynthia panicked when she opened the door to a fatigued Margaret. “Margaret? Good Lord, please come in!” she gasped, taking the older woman’s hand and guiding her inside the trailer. She offered her some water, and as the older woman calmed down. She said she’d bought food for them, laughing at the same time and narrating how she got lost on the way.
“I’m glad I somehow made it,” she added proudly, but Cynthia was worried.
“But it could have turned out a lot worse, Margaret!” she scolded her gently, and the older woman smiled. “Oh, I am fine, honey. Your sweet boy helped me yesterday, so I had to do this much….”
From that day on, Margaret and Cynthia became good friends. The poor woman was beyond grateful to Margaret for her concern, and the older woman offered to help her look after her children so that she could focus on her job more efficiently.
However, the most touching moment came when Jim gifted Margaret a pair of second-hand glasses on her birthday with all the money he had saved over the years, saying, “Now that you have spare glasses, Margaret, you don’t have to worry if you misplace one of them!”
The older lady couldn’t help but smile at his innocence and hug him. “Thank you very much, Jim! This is the most thoughtful birthday present I’ve ever received,” she replied.