for angela

there's a homeless lady in our area. she's a regular; i see hear maybe once a month and she's the only one i've really noticed. probably because she's a woman. 

anyway, i found a couple pairs of brand new socks at the house and didn't want / need them, and neither did my mom, and I thought of her. I kept them in our basket of things to be donated near the front door, and eventually was able to give them to her. she accepted them, was polite, and not overly grateful, which I liked.

about a month later, she's still on my mind. it's so cold at nights and one night it poured rain. last week I saw her and asked if she needed anything. she said possibly a small blanket. I had just visited my parents (I go once a week), and didn't plan to go again until the next weekend. so I told her to come find me in a week and a half and I'd see what I'd have for her.

but I couldn't wait that whole 7-8 days tho cause it is so cold at night, and it's not like my days are so busy anyway, so I went on monday to get assorted blankets, a long wool coat from my mom, cleared out a large backpack (hers is so small), and a few other clothing items. I'd also asked ting a few days before and she donated a bunch of clothes too! and toiletries! the homeless lady is quite thin but wears a lot of layers so I don't think she'd do well with too much of my clothes. 

so we collected pretty much everything on the floor in the photo for her. (not the shoes, those are mine. the homeless lady is a size 9), plus the coat draped over the chair.

i was nervous that since I had asked her to come back in a week and a half but went early, I'd just have this sitting in our living room for a week. amazingly, the very next morning, I saw her! i had prepared the backpack for her, and added some fruit, a $40 gift card to walgreens (it was a gift to me and I never shop there), and a $25 starbucks from ting (also a gift). i offered her a choice of the blankets, said she could take them all if she wanted, tho she only wanted the smallest blanket. I've noticed that she is not one of those who keeps a lot of things in a shopping cart. she has a small backpack and a smaller tote stuffed full, but that's it. 

she seemed most appreciative of the coat and the backpack. she asked more than once that my mom didn't mind giving away the coat, and later asked me to thank my mom for it. :) ting and I both gave a good amount of thought of what to give. what was appropriate (ting gave some used but great condition socks) and sizes (I gave her new underwear in small size, but a jacket in medium of layering), and I think we dd good. 

oh, btw, I didn't think to ask her name until tuesday (today) when I gave her the stuff.