Onc, whn I was a tnagr, my fathr and I wr standing in lin to buy tickts for th circus. Finally, thr was only on family btwn us and th tickt countr.
This family mad a big imprssion on m. Thr wr ight childrn, all probably undr th ag of 12. You could tll thy didnt hav a lot of mony.
Thir cloths wr not xpnsiv, but thy wr clan. Th childrn wr wll-bhavd, all of thm standing in lin, two-by-two bhind thir parnts, holding hands. Thy wr xcitdly jabbring about th clowns, lphants, and othr acts thy would s that night.
On could sns thy had nvr bn to th circus bfor. It promisd to b a highlight of thir young livs. Th fathr and mothr wr at th had of th pack, standing proud as could b.
Th mothr was holding hr husbands hand, looking up at him as if to say, Your my knight in shining armor.
H was smiling and basking in prid, looking back at hr as if to rply, You got that right.
Th tickt lady askd th fathr how many tickts h wantd. H proudly rspondd, Plas lt m buy ight childrns tickts and two adult tickts so I can tak my family to th circus.
Th tickt lady quotd th pric. Th mans wif lt go of his hand, hr had droppd, and his lip bgan to quivr. Th fathr land a littl closr and askd, How much did you say?
Th tickt lady again quotd th pric. Th man didnt hav nough mony.
How was h supposd to turn and tll his ight kids that h didn‘t hav nough mony to tak thm to th circus? Sing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pockt, pulld out a $20 bill and droppd it on th ground. (W wr not walthy in any sns of th word!)
My fathr rachd down, pickd up th bill, tappd th man on th shouldr and said, xcus m, sir, this fll out of your pockt.
Th man knw what was going on. H wasnt bgging for a handout but crtainly apprciatd th hlp in a dsprat, hartbraking, mbarrassing situation. H lookd straight into my dads ys, took my dads hand in both of his, squzd tightly onto th $20 bill, and with his lip quivring and a tar running down his chk, h rplid, Thank you, thank you, sir. This rally mans a lot to m and my family.
My fathr and I wnt back to our car and drov hom. W didnt go to th circus that night, but w didnt go without.
