He may only be 12 and 5’2, but he has the heart the size of California. Walking home from school, he notices a man beaten down by the weather, living in torn and dirty clothes. The boy wonders in his mind why this man is alone walking the streets holding nothing more than a small grocery bag. A few more days go by and he is driving with his mom to his baseball game. The car comes to a red light and they chat about the impending game.   The boy looks to the right of him and notices the same man, standing on the sidewalk, waiting to cross the street.

The boy tells his mom, “This is the man I was telling you about. People pass him and they walk far away, because he is so dirty.”

The man turned to look to see if cars were coming and they noticed that the man’s pants were so worn, he might as well have been wearing rags. As he turned to walk his pants moved with the wind and his buttocks was showing, in broad day light. The man didn’t even have underwear. Their hearts sunk. This man didn’t have anything and by now loosing his dignity too.

The boy asks, “Can we go buy him some pants mom?”

 Mom answers, “We will do something.”

The boy says, “That’s just not right, huh.”

A few days pass by and the boy sees the man again on his way home from school. This time he has a red rag, from a car wash, tied to his pant belt loop, partially covering his rear. He calls his mom and asks if she purchased the pants yet. Upon finding out she hadn’t had the chance to go to the store, the boy stuffs a pair of shorts, a shirt and a pair of underwear in a shopping bag and places it in his backpack. The next day he hands the bag to the homeless man and says, “I hope they fit.”

I shared this story with you, because this boy is my son. He consistently makes me proud and inspires me. I hope this story inspires you to always remember to be compassionate towards others, especially strangers. You don’t know their story, their hardship or their obstacles. However, you can always help them by showing a little compassion.