A message from a good friend of mine on FB that both broke my heart and made me think.

[hopemountain]

59. one year my jeep

broke down at the beginning of december. as the sole support for my family, i needed this vehicle for my job in snowy, rural northern nevada - so of course, my entire paycheck went for repairs. there was no money for christmas that year and the pantry was bare - except for flour.

one night during the dinner hour a friend called to ask how we were doing. my hubby, who was on the heart transplant list, answered.
"what are you doing?", our friend asked.
"cookin' dinner", hubby replied.
"whatcha havin'?" friend asked.
"pancakes. same ol' same ol'", came the reply.
"what? pancakes? why?" friend asked.
so, hubby explained.

about an hour later, cars began pulling in the drive. several of our friends/neighbors brought us food from their pantries and freezers. whole frozen salmon! venison roasts and steaks! local butchered beef, a butchered chicken, beans, soups, veggies, p&b, cheese, eggs, etc.. one of our friends was in the middle of making indian tacos when she received the call about our situation - and she packed up and brought us a hot meal of indian tacos straight from her stove.

things had been challenging for us for a while and i could not remember when our food stores had been so full. i was humbled and sobbing. in this depressed community many of our friends were unemployed and i was fortunate to have a steady job. many of them were on tight budgets with food support - and yet, they shared with us. we did not have gifts under the tree that year - but we had one another and a delicious meal.

the generosity of our friends and neighbors showed me how we can never be too poor or without - to share something!