She Didn’t Have to Care

by Anonymous
USA

I am a divorced 26-year-old and a single mother to a four-year-old son who is precocious but has a speech problem. Until August of 2006, we rented a second home my mother owns. Normally, you would assume that things would work out well with such an arrangement — but you see, my mother is a severe alcoholic.

Mother decided to sell her primary home and move into the rental home we’re living in. We had a limited time to find a new place to live.

I’ve worked at the same place for years. But between bills and other expenses, it has been difficult and slow going to pay off the debts my ex-husband incurred that put me in debt. My poor credit made it harder to find and rent a new place.

I went to a local apartment complex and met a wonderful woman I’ll call Alice. She understood the situation, though I left out the bit about my mother’s alcoholism. Alice had been divorced when she was my age and had young children at that time (all grown now, of course). We had a chat, and Alice made me smile in a stressful time.

When my credit check came back, Alice’s manager denied my application. I was crushed, but this was not the first denial, so I guess it wasn’t totally unexpected. I offered a larger deposit, but there was nothing Alice could do to change the situation.

The following day, I got an email. It was from Alice, who must have gotten my email address from the application. She had attached a list of local apartment complexes for me to call. The day after that, I got another email with a few more leads.

Later that day, Alice sent an email saying that if my mother continued to be unreasonable about allowing us to remain, her family would gladly help us with a short-term place to stay.

I think I cried.

I was a perfect stranger to her. She only knew me from a few conversations and emails. Yet, she and her family would open their hearts and homes for my son and me. I’m not used to that. My mother even required stipulations for us to stay in her house that made me uncomfortable.

However, this one woman has reached out with care. Words cannot truly express what this meant to me, and I can only hope Alice sees this story as a way of thanks.

She didn’t have to care… but she did.

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