The Mother & Son In Chicago

In my usual sleepless night of watching YouTube videos, I was seeping through my Watch Later playlist and decided to click on the video entitled, ‘What’s the most painful thing you’ve been told?’ produced by Thoraya Maronesy. It was a beautiful video where she asked strangers to share the most painful words ever spoken to them. The video that popped up just underneath that one was another one of her videos titled, “Who’s 1 stranger that you still remember?’. As I was watching this beautifully done video from her series, I remembered something from my trip to Chicago in November that stood out to me.

We all have seen the homeless standing on the side of the road waiting for someone to spare some change. Often times we walk right passed them. When I was younger, I often asked my family if I could give them a dollar. My family still to this day says no, because they think all of the “homeless” are con-artists trying to make a quick buck. Now there have been instances where a woman has said she needed money for formula and then an hour later got into a Subaru or a man who had on a pair of clean, white sneakers. And the usual, “Give them money and they’ll get beer or drugs”. But that is not every homeless person. A lot of times it is humans who rely on the kindness of strangers.

Before we get into what happened in Chicago, I want to share an experience I had with my Aunt Debbie. We were coming home from a day in San Francisco in July of 2018 and stopped at a McDonald’s on the west side to get something to eat. A man in a wheelchair who I had often seen came in for a cup of water and then left later to go sit at the grocery store across the parking lot. With the ideas put into my head by my family of ignoring people in his situation, I didn’t think much of it. Then when we were getting ready to leave she ordered another hamburger and an ice cream. It was melting off the side so I told her, “you better lick it before it gets everywhere”. She responded, “No. It’s not for me”. I assumed it was for my aunts at home or something. As we were driving to the grocery store, I quickly realized what she was doing. She bought that meal for the man in the wheelchair.

When we were talking in the car on the way home, she said to me, “God can show up in any form and be testing you”. She explained to me that she believes that God can show up as a dog on the sidewalk or a homeless person in a wheelchair and test to find the humanity in the world. That conversation has stuck with me to this day.

So now to Chicago. I was with the other kids and my teacher headed back to the hotel from the river walk. It was 30 F for the weather and we were all bundled up. When we were on the street that our hotel was on, the building next to the one with our hotel had cutout in the wall for the design. So I saw a shopping cart and when I looked at the cutout in the wall, there was a woman and her very young son sitting on the ground. She was eating an apple and I do not remember what the son was doing. But I thought back to what my aunt had and I reached in my pocket and gave her some money. I was the only one that did. I suggested to my group that later we take some hot food out to the woman and the boy. We had been doing a lot in the hotel that night and everyone just kind of forgot about it. When we were leaving the next morning, I didn’t see the boy or the mother. I thought they had backed up and left or were told to move.

That is what bothered me. We forgot about them. We forgot about this mother and son on the streets of Chicago in winter. I was happy I had given her some change, but it wasn’t enough. If I hadn’t followed everyone else and put off bringing them food or a blanket and then forgot about it, maybe they would have had a better night. I regret not going out there and given the boy at least some macaroni.

The whole premise behind this story is that I will never forget that mother and son on the sidewalk in Chicago. And how I could have done something more. But I didn’t. And going back to the ideas that were drilled into my head by my family, were they actually homeless? Were they putting on a bit? Who knows. They could have been. But they also could have been a struggling family just trying to survive the night. Even if they were putting on a bit, they probably were really desperate for money if they had to pretend to be homeless. I will never know the truth. And that is what sticks out to me. I will never know what happened to that boy, who should have been at home in bed to wake up the next morning to school or cartoons, but instead was sitting on the cold concrete of Chicago in 30-degree weather.

What I want all of you to learn from this is to be like my Aunt Debbie. Even if you are not religious, be the person that restores faith in humanity. Be the person that does not turn a blind eye to those on the street, but rather offers them some money or a meal. Even if you are uneasy about giving money, give them a meal, a hat, gloves, or socks. Something that will be put to use.

I will always think of that mother and boy in Chicago. I would like to think that they are doing better or that the money I gave them went to something good. I regret not doing more. But I will always think back to that image of locking eyes with the both of them and knowing that I needed to help in some way.

If you would like to check out Thoraya’s channel and her videos, here are a few links. Please show her some love!

Thoraya’s Channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV2cu49-22CyFyBbq2YFPGw

Who's 1 stranger that you still remember? (Strangers Answer)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrY7YQ7Vm2I&t=0s

What's the most painful thing you've been told? (Strangers Answer)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr10kEq-eu4&t=0s