When she lost her husband to Covid and later her house was destroyed by a tornado, Diane Salinger, a lovely woman in her fifties, found herself at a crossroads. She contemplated life, and after giving it some thought, she decided to invest the money she was left with into a business at a mid-sized town in Michigan.
Her plan was to sell exotic goods so she bought a tiny grocery store and hoped for the best.
Luckily, the neighborhood where she settled was a cozy one. The people were friendly and accepted her as one of their own. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for her landlord, Chris, who was a grumpy man and who seemed to only cared about himself.
Diane was the tenant everyone would ask for. She was quiet, paid her rent on time, and never asked for anything.
But one December, it was different. When the due date arrived, she was $120 short on her rent.
When she handed in the envelope to Chris and he started counting the money, he got furious, demanding that she paid the rent in full.
Diane explained that she would have the money in two weeks time, but Chris refused to listen to her. Still, she told him that she was helping some families in need and that she would be able to pay in full on short notice.
Chris started yelling and told her she could be playing Mother Theresa as much as she wanted, but he wouldn’t wait a day. Angry at her, he asked her to leave the place by the end of the week.
“I’m a businessman, not a charity,” he told her and accused her of taking advantage of him.
Chris could see people exiting Diane’s store with bags full of groceries so he was convinced her business was doing well enough to cover the rent in full, and that angered him even more.
Poor Diane found herself on the streets. She was forced to leave the house and look for another place to stay.
In the meantime, Chris didn’t feel any remorse for kicking her out.
A couple of days later, he was getting ready to pay his sister Vanessa a visit. She was a single mother who was raising her son all by herself. Her life was hard, but she was a strong and independent woman Chris loved dearly.
He placed a $20 bill in an envelope for his nephews’ birthday and headed to Vanessa’s.
When she opened the door, a pleasant smell of home-cooked food could be smelled in the air. Vanessa seemed happier than usual. She welcomed Chris in and told him dinner was ready. When he asked about his nephew, Vanessa said he was upstairs, playing video games with one of her friends. At that moment, Chris’ nephew got downstairs with a woman. It was Diane, the woman Chris kicked out of his home.
“I had no idea you were Vanessa’s brother,” Diane said.
Chris was stunned. He realized that one of those needy families Diane said was helping was that of his sister.
“But why isn’t she asking money from me,” he mumbled under his breath. Leaning towards him, Diane whispered, “Because it’s always easier to ask your friends than your family and Vanessa is one hardworking but very proud woman.”
Chris felt ashamed of himself. He now knew he did Diane wrong and wanted to make things right so he offered her to return to the apartment at half the price of the rent she was paying so that she can continue helping people like his sister. What’s most, he promised to match Diane’s help whenever he could.
Diane was glad to accept the offer. She hoped Chris learned a valuable lesson that day.
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