After what can be call nothing less then a wonderful Christmas morning and breakfast with some of "Our Guys" we headed to our "Original Guy" Terry.

There's something so basic and yet so wonderful to see someone that you have grown fond of in a clean safe and warm environment. Something that many of us take for granted daily.

Walking in and having Terry greet us with his toothless smile and warm hug in itself was a gift. This man that was once so painfully thin has in the two months since he's been off the street gained weight gone up a pants size and his still thin frame and features are no longer gaunt looking.

Upon our arrival we sat ourselves in the dining room and begin to receive a slight reprimand from Terry for buying him gifts. Then the fun began with each gift you could see the smile in his eyes . First the stocking.... it's certain that his endless sweet tooth would be satisfied temporarily,then came the gift that Terry had mentioned he wanted and needed - a watch.

Terry is a funny man in that he makes certain the tell you he knows "the brand names" so out comes his new Timex watch the one with the glow in the dark face that he mentioned  so he can see what time it is without waking his roommate. As he places his new watch on his wrist he comments that Timex is a one of the best brands. Then he continues with the name brand game.

 After opening his otherwise basic necessity gifts, Terry hands me a card. Writing a simple yet expressive word on the card by Terry brought a warmth to my heart. Terry gave us what he could which was his expressed affection and a invitation to share Christmas dinner with him.

 For a brief moment while we were trying to figure out how we could juggle doing an unexpected dinner with Terry and still make it to our planned dinner, Terry stated that everyone else always has people stay for dinner. Needless to say that Terry had company for Christmas dinner. But the his gift wasn't the invitation to dinner, it was what happened next.

When I was walking up to the dinner line Terry introduced me to a member of staff, placed his hand on my shoulder and said....This is my family and they are having dinner with me.  WOW what a gift !

 What started out 4 months before as a simple random act of kindness has turned around and became a very rewarding experience for both my husband and myself. Our family has grown

As it turned out we spent the first several hours of a major holiday that most people spend with family, with men that only a few short months ago were people that we never knew and most likely never would have taken the time to know. Something happen that first day last Aug. and things have and will never be the same.