Remember as a child, knowing that if you just had a leg up, you'd be able to grab hold of the lowest branch on a tree and from there make it to the very top?

Remember getting that leg up from a friend, brother, sister, cousin, or someone who lent their back, knee, or cupped hands, grabbing that branch and branch by branch going as high as you thought you should go? Maybe you came back and tried again, day after day and decided that partway was as high as you wanted to get, or perhaps you made it all the way to the top scaring the 'stuffing' out of your Mother?

Perhaps one day you tried after persevering day after day and no longer needed that leg up, but knew it was there if you did. Remember?

What if that leg up never appeared? Or maybe worse yet, it did and dropped you before you could grab hold. Maybe they didn't mean to. Perhaps a bug bit them on the bum, or their Mother called them home, who knows, but time and time again, what if?

Would you have kept trying, day in and day out?

What if you were told you'd never make it and why were you wasting your time when you should be doing other things?

When I ask people what their thoughts are about the homeless and struggling in our community, they often times say “there's a reason they have no resources, no family, or friends, they've burnt all their bridges!” I understand. It's just that we forget who we are. We forget that we are their resources and family. We forget the time when the leg up appeared, but may not have.

Jeannine Andre  
Mariposa, CA