Three more days…
There were really no cars out. I took this in the center of Simpson Street, a "major" road in Mechanicsburg.
Today’s blog post is from Day 346 which was Thanksgiving. I was in Mechanicsburg with my father. Dad cooked a delicious turkey and I handled some of the sides. My favorite is the stuffing. In fact I made two stuffings. Dad prefers cornbread stuffing, but I’m more of a bread stuffing guy. I make sure to add a little sausage and plenty of sage like my mother used to do. I also added pine nuts which I don’t think she did.
After the tasty spread was consumed along with a blurry amount of wine, I decided that I should try to go and find my recipient of the day. I decided to walk, note the reference to wine above, and headed out toward downtown Mechanicsburg. I was going to head to the CVS at 30 East Simpson Street. It’s probably less than a mile from the house although I bet people rarely walk there from my father’s neighborhood. Most people here drive everywhere. Dad decided to stay behind because of his knee – at least that’s what he said, maybe it was because there was still some wine left! “I don’t think CVS will be open,” he shouted down to me as I opened the front door.
The town looked abandoned. The streets were empty and rather dark with a hint of precipitation making everything glisten ever so slightly. I could peek through the windows of several homes and see families sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Several houses already had their Christmas lights on.
I got to the CVS and saw that it was in fact open. There were two cars in the parking lot, one of which had just arrived. A couple with a small child got out and disappeared into the store. “Maybe I’ll give it to them,” I thought. They ended up eluding me and I shifted my focus to my cashier: Kristen.
Kristen is a shift supervisor at CVS.
The 19-year-old is originally from a place called Troy, Missouri, “about 45 miles north of St. Louis.” She’s the shift supervisor and had been there since 4:00pm – it was about 7:00pm.
“Can I donate the $10?” she asked.
After explaining that she could do anything she wanted to with it she grabbed a piece of paper near the register that said, “St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.” Each card is worth a $2 donation. She swiped it five times. I looked at the card more closely and it said, “Help fight childhood cancer.”
Children are probably on her mind these days. Kristen, who lives with her boyfriend, is expecting a baby in May. “We don’t know if it is a boy or girl yet,” she started, “and I am not sure I want to know.” She has an appointment December 30th and they will know then if they choose to.
We were joined then by a co-worker, Atle, who coincidentally has a sister named Reed! Wow…I almost never find someone named Reed – although I did give my $10 to a guy named Read on Day 280 – much less a woman. The store was dead and they looked bored. They had another two hours before they could go home to their families.
Atle (left) poses with Kristen in front of the a shelf of "Light Up Santa Clauses." Thanksgiving isn't even over yet!
As we chatted Kristen’s boyfriend’s family was probably just finishing up the big meal. “They had dinner at 6:00pm,” she said looking down slightly. “But this was really special – I’ll remember this Thanksgiving because of this – otherwise I’d just remember coming to work and going home and eating leftovers.”
Kristen and her boyfriend live in a one bedroom apartment and live on a modest income. If you would like to help them through this financially difficult time, please drop me a note. “We could use pretty much anything for our baby.”
Year of Giving 