A Blessing and a Gift

The First Encounter

The woman sighed with relief as she stuffed an abundance of papers in her bag and swung it over her shoulder. It was always her favorite part of the day when she got to leave the office and head home. Motion outside her window drew her attention to the flecks of snow mercilessly falling from the clouded sky in heavy waves—the glistening, frozen droplets of rain accumulated on the snow-covered roads in masses. It would have been a magical moment in New York City if there had not been a snowstorm the previous night. What little sunlight remained peaked through the clouds and reflected off the snow, blinding the woman as she pulled away from the window.

Minutes later, she shoved open the heavy door that isolated her from freedom and left the building. She looked up at the sky, taking in the brilliant spectacle. For a fleeting moment, she felt at ease. Frost collected on her eyelashes and tenderly brushed against her cheeks, making a shiver race through her lean body. A blaring car horn brought her out of the trance and back to reality, with the unfamiliar peace once again retreating to the back of her mind, a dismal feeling taking over. Pulling her coat tighter, she began wading through the streets toward Central Park. A piece of paper fell on the ground and the women hurried to scoop it back up. The words "Final Notice" seemed to burn a hole in her pocket.

Despite the weather, children played on a small playground located at the center of the park with mothers sitting and laughing amongst each other on snow-covered benches. The woman found an unoccupied bench positioned under frosted pine trees overlooking the playground, distant from everyone else. The dismal, hopeless feeling plagued her every thought, mind picturing the cluttered piles of bills packed onto her tiny dining table.

She had been sitting there for hours when a stranger approached and sat down next to her. She took a moment to study his wrinkled, aged face and plump body covered in tattered clothes. Bare feet poked through his shoes, but he did not strike the woman as a poor man despite his appearance. He turned toward her and smiled. It was not the kind of devious smile that a man would typically make towards a woman, but instead, it was similar to a father looking at his child with delight.

Momentarily flustered, the woman greeted him. "Hello, Sir. How are you today?"

"I'm feeling remarkably well, thank you." His warm brown eyes gleamed as they shook hands. "Thaddeus, and you are?"

"Esther." She returned his smile then replaced her attention to the playground where a boy was in tears on the ground, clutching his knee. This child's mother was by his side, wiping the tears off his face. All her life, Esther had wanted her parents to be at her side when life started to get tougher and everyone began to demand things that she could not provide. She discreetly whipped away a tear that had started to cloud her vision.