Poor Ol’ Grandma

When reading about Cecilia Jose who is a 76-year-old great-grandmother living in Santa Fe, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic (read more at http://www.outreach-international.org/site/PageServer?pagename=what_stories_grandmother), I thought of my Grandmother. She lived with our family when I was a child. At one time during those years, my grandmother, my sister, and I all slept in the same bedroom. I remember being jealous of my parents, who had their own room to sleep in. I also remember feeling privileged because, at least in our room, all three of us had our own bed, whereas, Mom and Dad had to share a bed. And, since the only bathroom in the house was attached to their bedroom, my sister and I got to play on that big bed while taking our turn waiting for the bathroom. Yes, those were days of sweet innocence on my part.

My grandmother was very creative and resourceful. She knew how to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary. One particularly cold Ozark winter, she made me a coat from burlap—a gunny sack—a “feed sack” for cattle. I loved that coat. Not only did it keep me warm, it was made especially for me. No other kid at school had one. It was only later—in my teen years—that I realized that the kids at school used to tease me about that coat, not because they were jealous, but because we were poor.

I have never thought of myself, or my family, as poor. We did not have much money or “stuff.” Health issues sometimes consumed more energy and income than my parents were prepared to deal with. Emotional/relational storms sometimes battered our fragile home. It was what we called life. We lived through it. I am a better person for it. My parents were creative and loving in sacrificially working and scrimping to ensure that my sister and I had opportunities to live a better life.

That’s often the way it is with the “poor.” “They” are not folks to be pitied or snubbed. Most of “them” are not looking for a handout or “freebies.” What they need are friends who will give them the chance to change their circumstances.

Cecilia Jose understands this dynamic of friendship: “Thankfully, sixteen of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren are now attending the Outreach International-sponsored school in our village. Four of them have scholarships that subsidize their school fees, and I sell candies to pay the quotas for the others.”

“Best of all, our grandchildren now realize they are persons of value in the world and can smile with hope. The fact that someone cares keeps up our faith and hope.”

If you have never been poor, you do not, cannot, know what it means to live on “hope.” "Hope" feeds the soul. “Hope” opens the dreams of the young. “Hope” allows you to wake to another day. My grandmother, who never graduated from high school, like Cecilia, had great hopes and dreams for her grandchildren. Given the opportunity, she would have been a pioneer with Outreach in its’ early years. Outreach International works in partnership with those who want to give the poor a chance to change their circumstances, and where friendships can begin. Become a friend of Outreach!