This man made friends with a homeless woman and now they have lunch together every Tuesday and he teaches her how to read

Homeless people are everywhere in the world. These are people who end up living on the street (or who are born there) for the most disparate reasons and who, from that moment, seem to become ghosts for society. 

We pass them by on the street, maybe we give them some money, but their personal stories are almost always a mystery.

Yet they all have one just like we do, and sometimes it happens that someone will stop for a moment and listen to them. Case in point is the gentleman in this story who decided to get to know a homeless woman who greeted him every morning.

Greg Smith has made friends with a woman who lives on the street and after having lunch with her a few times, he discovered something that has profoundly affected him.

Facebook (Lovewhatmatters/Greg Smith)

He shares with us the following story ... 

I live in Orlando and work downtown. Every day I meet different people who ask for money on the street but this woman, who I've seen several times, never did. Whenever she saw me go by, she only said, "Good morning sir, I wish you a wonderful day! God bless you."

For a few weeks now and Amy Joe and I, every Tuesday, we meet at the corner of Pine Street and eat together. For about half an hour we eat and talk and every time I am impressed by her positive attitude towards life even if she has nothing. 

Last week Amy Joe told me something that left me speechless --- she does not know how to read. She has no drug or substance dependencies of any kind, but trying to find a job not knowing how to read and write complicates things a lot. For this reason, she uses almost all the money she can to buy books that can help her overcome this huge obstacle, often not even buying food. This impressed me deeply ... 

I was lucky to have two fantastic parents and a family that always had the possibility to give me the best. Amy Joe no, though. For this reason, now we do not only have lunch together on Tuesdays, but I have also started to help her to learn to read. Every week I borrow a book from the library, we read it together and then she exercises for the rest of the week. 

I am not telling you about this because I want you to piety Amy Joe or to praise me. 
I do so because I hope this story can strongly encourage you to do something useful for your neighbor. There are a lot of people in need, and not all are homeless - it could be a friend or a family member. If you find yourself in a privileged position, try it, you will be surprised by what is in your power to do for others, without you even realizing it. Who is your Amy Joe?!?