I am blessed

Last week I stopped at the dollar store near Brian's office. I had Aubryn and Reagan with me. We walked out of the store, not finding what we went in after. There was a man sitting on the sidewalk near the store eating some fast food. He was very dirty and his hair was long and matted. I didn't think much of him as we walked past. Reagan said, "Hi!" and waved. He looked up and said hi back. Then Aubryn said hi and I smiled at him.
We continued to walk towards Brian's office when we noticed a bunch of kids playing some kind of hockey game inside a gym. My kids watched through the glass with their noses making smudge marks. The man who we had seen eating moments before walked past us. Reagan and Aubryn happily said hi to him again. As their attention returned to the kids on the other side of the glass I watched this man stop at a nearby garbage can. It had a small opening on the top. He paused and looked in it. Then he reached in and grabbed a fast food resturant bag, pulled it out, and sifted through it looking for something to eat. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing. The thought that he was looking for food took a while to sink into my naive mind. I watched him continue on and stop at every garbage can. My heart was sad and yet overwhelmed with gratitude for my many blessings. Not only was he starving, he was alone. I was holding the hands of two of my children. We had a home to go home to, with food in the cupboard. I had a loving husband not far from me working in his office. I have much to be thankful for.