Page 56 - ThreeGiftsForFlipBook

reminded him of a research paper he had written the year before. It was about the homeless, the drug addicts, and those with other problems. His paper’s thesis was that those who had such problems had brought them upon themselves because they were lazy or addicted. But here, walking beside him, was Mary, a lady left destitute because of a husband who had become addicted to alcohol, a woman who was trying as hard as she could to take care of her family even with the problems life had given her. Tom felt even worse as he stepped through the door of the little apartment that was neat, but poor. He heard Mary say, “Well here we are,” in a voice that Tom could tell was full of embarrassment, sadness, and exhaustion. Mary hadn’t chosen this life; neither had Emily, nor Timmy. They had been put into it by the choices someone else had made. Suddenly Tom had an overwhelming feeling come over him. It was a feeling he could hardly describe. It was almost as if he felt like crying and screaming at the same time. He felt anger at himself for not understanding more about others. How could he have gotten an “A” on that paper when he had been so wrong? Obviously the sources he had used were the ones that told him what he wanted to believe; the ones that made it comfortable to continue his life that lacked 51