This sweet story is one between a successful businessman and a kind and loving homeless woman who shows us that humanity really is everywhere, though we don’t see it often enough. Amy Joe, a homeless woman, never asked this kind samaritan for money when he passed by, just wished him a fine day. He found out, eventually, that she couldn’t read, and the money she would get would be to borrow books from the library instead of that. Once he discovered this, the two started eating lunch every week, and he taught her to read. While he couldn’t do much about her living situation, he did make all the difference by giving her a life through books and reading. So, it teaches us that humanity is still out there and there are tonnes of kind people left in the world that we live in.
Greg suspects that the reason he gets asked for money by so many homeless people is because he wears a suit to work every day. But there was one homeless woman who caught his eye, partly because she never actually asked him for money.
“Meet Amy Joe,” Greg wrote on his Facebook page. “For the last few weeks each Tuesday, Amy Joe and I meet in downtown Orlando. Each day for about a week, I saw Amy Joe at this corner and she never asked for money. She smiled and simply said, ‘Good morning, Sir. Have a great day. God Bless.’ I wear a suit to work every day so I get asked for money quite often downtown, but never once from Amy Joe. Every Tuesday Amy Joe and I now have lunch together. For 30 minutes to an hour, I get to hear how positive she is even though she really has nothing. [But] last week Amy Joe dropped a bomb on me…”
“She cannot read. Amy Joe does not smoke, drink, have a drug addiction, or anything to that nature. She simply just has never had anyone teach her how to read. She told me how hard it was for her to find work not being able to read. She began to tell me any money that she can collect she uses to check out library books that help with learning to read instead of buying food. This crushed me! She would rather learn to read to maybe find a job than eat! I have been blessed with two amazing parents and a family that has always had resources to provide me with anything I wanted to do. Amy Joe has not. So now not only do Amy Joe and I sit and have lunch, I’m teaching her to read. I rent one library book a week and we read it together Tuesday and she practices on her own throughout the rest of the week.”
It should be noted that while most American libraries don’t charge for library cards, people like Amy Joe, who don’t have a permanent address, have no choice but to pay for their books.
“I wanted to share this because maybe this can lead to someone helping another person,” Greg continued on his Facebook page. “There are a lot of people out there like Amy Joe, not all are hungry, homeless, or hurt. Some could be your family or friends. Helping someone could be as easy as saying hello and smiling. I have been fortunate enough in my finances that I can take care of Amy Joe, so that’s what I’m going to do. You never know what you can do for someone until you try. Who is your Amy Joe?”
