Empathy

"Why does Daddy have to go to work?"

The answer seems obvious enough, but I guess not when you're three. I didn't give much thought to this question at first, but as I explained it didn't take long for the conversation to go from the haves (Daddy goes to work to make money for food, etc.) to the have-nots (some people don't have enough money to buy food). Its hard to explain one of the greatest social ills to a three year old, but his response was immediate. "Let's go to their house and give them food." I was left stammering as I tried to explain that I didn't actually know who 'they' are or where 'they' live. He was ready for immediate action. I let myself off the hook by telling him that I would find out who needed food so we could take them some. He also wanted to give 'them' his legos.

Honestly I was a little worried. Here my son was on the precipice of a major life lesson and I felt like I really needed to follow through. I wasn't ready to start cruising the streets with a casserole, so who would know where to find some people in need? In a 'duh' moment I realized that our church would be the ideal place to find out how to feed the hungry. And that led us to Santa Maria Urban Mission in San Jose. William helped with the shopping at Costco and we made our special delivery on Monday morning. Everyone at the Mission was so nice and grateful for our donation. Carmen, the supervisor, was more than happy to show us around so we could see where the food was going. I was a little concerned that dropping off some canned goods was not concrete enough of an experience for William to feel like he really had fed the hungry. But as we were leaving, some people were beginning to congregate outside in order to pick up some groceries. William was pretty quiet throughout the trip, but once Carmen mentioned Christmas he said that he wanted to come back with Christmas presents for all the kids.

We will definitely be back.