Inspirational People

Sometimes I think we forget to thank the strangers who inspire us. Thanking the people you love and are close with is easier. Today I'm going to tell the story of a stranger. I do not know her name, so I'll call her Maria.

Maria was a 30-something year old twin. She had a 7 year old son, a 12 year old daughter, and a boyfriend. She was pregnant with twins. She had a job, and some cats, and she rented an apartment from my father. It was one of the smaller buildings of my fathers. Just two apartments.

After she had her twins, she went back to work. Her boyfriend didn't have a job so he stayed home with the kids usually. One day she came home early, and opened the door just in time for him to throw one of the crying infants across the room. Thankfully, the baby was fine. Maria broke up with her boyfriend, and kicked him out.

She got laid off soon after. Single mother of four out of work. My father gave her some extra time on the rent, provided she kept him informed of her job searching. Before she could find a job her twin sister and sisters husband died in an accident, leaving behind three more kids. Those three moved in with Maria. There were no other family members for them to go to.

Maria found a job as a truck driver, and they paid her when she was in training learning to drive the trucks. She was making twice as much as she had been before. She got caught up four months of back rent, in only two months. My father thanked her, but told her that he was planning on putting the building on the market, and if it sold she'd need to move. She told him she'd buy it. She took out a loan, and the house was hers. She turned it from a 2-family-apartment into one big family home.

Every one of these events happened within one years worth of time.

A few years later (I think in 2005) she sent my father a letter thanking him for all he did for them, by giving her breaks on the rent, and selling to her. All 7 of the kids were doing well. She had just sold the house and moved to Kansas because of a new job opportunity.

So even though I only met her once or twice when I was about 8 (she gave me a kitten. Oh thats right, right after her sisters kids moved in, one of her cats gave birth. She got the cat from a shelter, and was told the cat had been spayed. Oops.) this woman inspires me. Even when things were at their worst, she didn't give up. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly low, I remember this woman. I wish I knew her name, so that I could look her up and find out how things are now. So that I could thank her for reminding me that people are strong.

Sometimes, we need to give a little more credit to the strangers.