Catholic Singles

THE POOR MAN
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI

The man had no wealth or riches, he was a poor man by any standards, and he owned nothing. However whenever you saw the poor man he always was smiling and had a cherry good morning to everyone he walked past. He would stand on the corner and wave to the drivers as they hurried by, many would wave in return, honk their horns and smile in return.

As people would drive past with their smiles and returning waves, they would just shake their heads and mumble how sorry they felt for the poor man. A few would even talk about the poor man as they drove past, wondering why he did not do things to improve his lot in life. There had to be government agencies out there to assist him. Then others would just ride past and shake their heads.

The day came as the people drove by they saw the poor man there waving with a young child next to him. The child waved eagerly at each passing car, he would even yell hello above the roar of the traffic. At dinner time the boy would always hug the poor man and scamper off to home for dinner, the poor man would walk away tears in his eyes. Everyday after school the boy would return just to wave with the poor man.

One day the boy asked the poor man why he waved to everyone, the poor man looked at him and replied, “God, is pleased when we make others smile, it is my job to stand here and make people smile.” The boy smiled and looked at the poor man and said, “I will do this job with you, it is a good job.”

A few months later the boy was standing there alone, waving to all the cars as they passed, he kept looking and waiting, but the poor man never showed up. He left to go home for dinner when he saw a police officer; he stopped and asked if he knew where his friend the poor man was. The officer took the boy by the hand and sat on a bench, he explained to the boy how the poor man had died that morning while waving to the cars. When the boy heard this he cried but vowed he would continue the poor man’s job and wave to the people everyday.

The next morning the young boy got up and heard his parents talking about the poor man, the boy noticed the poor man’s picture on the news and it was in the paper. Even though he could not read the entire story the boy did read about the poor man, he found that the poor man had a lot of money, and a large family. But, it was commonly known by others his family wanted nothing to do with the poor man; they just were waiting for his money.

The next day another story was on the news one of the poor man’s sons was complaining about his father’s will, how he had left everything he owned to some stranger. As the boy watched the the television he saw the mailman giving his mother a letter it was from the poor man’s lawyer.

Remember, a simple act of kindness, will bring great rewards.