Hush, Hush by Lucia Franco

Author:Lucia Franco [Franco, Lucia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Four

Ever since I was ten, Grammy and I volunteered at a soup kitchen on Christmas Eve. She never had money to donate, but she taught me that time was more valuable. She'd say, "The holidays are hardest on the needy and we have to give back, especially when they need our help the most."

I continued our tradition, even when I went off to college. Today I’m volunteering at a kitchen in the city, then I’ll go to her home in Queens and sleep there so we can spend Christmas Day together.

I offer a plate of food with a gentle smile to a woman holding a toddler. Something in my gut draws me to her. There’s a story behind her eyes, and I can’t help but wonder how she and her kid got to this point. I feel bad for them. No one should live on the streets, especially a child.

As I pass the next plate to a girl who doesn’t look much older than eighteen, I’m reminded that there’s a story behind every person's eyes. We don’t know what these people have been through. I’m not naive. I’m sure there are some who take advantage, but I like to believe most aren’t like that. Why would anyone willingly want to live in a shelter, or starve?

Seeing so many women struggle makes me think about all the cash I have hidden at home and the money I make now, and suddenly, the idea running through me like a freight train, I know what I want to do with my degree after graduation.

I’m going to open a nonprofit shelter for women and children.

I finish my shift at the soup kitchen with renewed energy and head home to clean up and grab my bags. Grammy is already asleep by the time I arrive. It's late and I don't want to wake her, so I quietly place my gifts under her tree and plan to cook her breakfast when I get up.

"You outdid yourself this year," Grammy says the next morning after we exchange gifts.

I swear she looks thinner since the last time I saw her, but it's hard to tell with all the layers she's wearing. It's a white Christmas this year, and even with the heat turned on high, she’s standing in the kitchen sporting the fleece-lined boots I got her.

"Did you get more prescriptions recently?" I ask as she measures out her morning medication into a small ramekin.

There's a slight tremble to her hands as she carries it back to the kitchen table. I look at the colorful pills with a feeling of dread. There seems to be a few more than usual and that worries me. She normally tells me when she gets new prescriptions.

She holds one pill up to show me. "My cholesterol skyrocketed." She places it down then picks up another. "The doctor gave me a new one for osteoporosis, and this one is for anemia. Apparently my levels were low. And this one is for high blood pressure.

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