Are you Poor ?

An old man walked down the cold street trying to heat himself by rubbing his hands. His employer had thrown him out considering he was old and a young person would do better. The old man could do nothing but leave the job. Now that he did not have a job he had to try to get a new one. He searched his pockets, gathering all the money he had and counted it to be 6 dollars and 20 cents. He had to get food for him and his grandson but with this amount of money, only one of them could have the privilege to eat that night. He decided he would not eat that night so that his grandson could eat well. He rubbed his hands again and then put them in his coat which was torn on the left side. He remembered himself fighting those goons when his coat had torn. He was taking home some food and the goons attacked him. He did save some of his money from getting stolen though he could not save the food.

"It would be so good if my son had been alive today !", he thought to himself, shivering in the cold as he continued walking on the street. His son had died an year ago with his wife and his mother in a car accident. They were returning from a family outing and on their way back a truck hit their car. His wife, son and his son's wife could not survive the crash. Since then, he had been taking care of his grandson. His grandson was the only person who was now alive. Even though he was weak, he did not leave any stone unturned in giving all that he his grandson should be getting.

He reached the market. It was crowded and he had to go home soon as it was getting dark. The last time he stayed back till dark, he had to fight the goons. Today he did not have so much resources to fight them and still get through. He had to save everything he had today.

It took him a long time to find some food for his grandson out of those 6 dollars and it had grown dark now. What would he do now ? This food was not to reach his home safely. He had to do something. He put about two-thirds of the food in his pockets, distributing it evenly to fool the thieves that he had nothing other than the one-third that was in his hand. Then making a silent prayer to his God, he walked back towards his house.

The old man swung open the door of his house and came inside panting for breath. He had been all bruised and looked as if he had been in a fight. He started crying and took the young boy in his arms. His grandson tried to calm him down but he kept on crying and after sometime fainted in his grandson's arms. His grandson understood what might have happened. He took his grandfather and help him lay down on his bed. Then he bought a bowl of hot soup from the kitchen and asked his grandfather to sip some slowly. The old man smiled to his grandson with tears in his eyes. He touched his forehead and blessed him. His grandson then said to him,"I'll take care of you now grandfather, I'll take care of you now !", and the old man closed his eyes.