This story took place almost long time ago when I was still a little kid. As a kid, I used to run around the house to find something to play with. Almost everyday, I have seen my mom talked to a same old granny sitting at our front yard. She appeared to be someone without a decent home. I later have found that she has been a member of a nursing home. Her husband died long time ago and their children were living so far away from her.
They left her at the nursing home because they have not been able to take care of her. Occasionally, they sent her some money. Most of the time her money was stolen by unknown people and she was too old to defend herself. By fate, she had always passed by my house. Most of her teeth were gone due to malnutrition.
Many days after school, as on my way home, I have seen granny sitting at the ledge of my front yard eating. She was holding a bowl of soup with her trembling and bonny hands. Whatever inside that bowl seemed so delicious and precious to her. The memory was so deep that until these days I still think about her image along with my mother's compassion to a stranger.
One day after school, same as every other day, she came to me and said, "Your mom is such a good cook. Look! I have regained all my strength back and I am so grateful to your mom. She has made an old lady like me so happy." That was the last time that I saw her.
I have learned that just "a bowl of soup" could satisfy a hungry, old granny for a short time before she passed away. I did not even have a chance to find out who she was and her life story. My mom has fed a perfect stranger on the street without knowing who she was. All she said to me was, "The old lady is hungry and I just want to provide her with something to eat."
Her loneliness broke my heart…at least during her final days, she might have realized that compassion was rare but it did exist in this world…
