The Best Thanksgiving Ever! Back a few months ago we purchased a building on Main Street in the City of Cortland. The building was in need of a lot of repair and had an array of tenants, many of which were very questionable to say the least. In fact one that had just been arrested for having a meth lab just prior to our ownership. Slowly we are getting rid of the more dubious tenants and continuing our plans of rehabbing the building. One day I decided that I would tour the building and introduce myself to the few tenants that were left. I had gone through the second floor and most of the third when I happened upon an apartment with the door propped open. When I peered in, I noticed an old man sitting on the couch cutting up paper with a pair of scissors into a box. I knocked on the open door and he said “come in”. I went in and introduced myself. He said his name was Milton and that he had lived in the apartment quite a few years. I told him who I was and ask him why he was cutting all of the paper. He told me “because I don’t want someone to steal my identity”, which I thought was somewhat comical at the time. You could tell that things were very meager in his apartment. In any case, we started talking, as my eyes roamed the whole apartment, I noticed many boxes, magazines, books and just general “stuff” stacked all around the apartment. As we started having a conversation, I noticed there was a uniform hanging in his closet. I was compelled to ask Milton if he had been in the service, as I am a history buff and additionally have a great respect for our veterans. He explained to me that he had served in WW2, in the Pacific Theatre, served in Korea and was still in the service during the Vietnam War years. To say the least , I was very intrigued about his military career and his life in general. and we talked for quite a while. He told me that at 87 years old he had no family left. I told him that no matter what his rent would not go up and that I wanted to make sure he was comfortable. Since then every time I go to the building I stop in to check on him and we always chat a while. I think he enjoys the company, as I know I do. So…Thanks giving day. I had volunteered my day to serve homeless and needy people at the local Salvation Army, which just so happened was next to the building that Milton lived in. After about four hours, I got wondering if Milton had had a Thanksgiving dinner. I assumed he had not as he had no family, so I put together a big plate of everything you could think of and made my trek next door and to the third floor. When I got to Miltons apartment, as usual his door was open, and there was Milton cutting up his old envelopes so that no one would “steal his identity”. I knocked on the door and went in to talk to him. He had not noticed what I had in my hand. I ask him if he knew what day it was. He answered “Thanksgiving Day “as if I should have known better than to ask. I ask him if he had had a dinner or if he had one coming. He told me with somewhat faint eyes that he was just going to warm up some soup. I told him he doesn’t have to do that because I brought him a nice dinner. He looked at the plate that I had brought for him and a smile came over his face and his eyes lit up like I had never seen before We talked quite a while and I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time chatting with him again. So…this story is not about what I did for Milton, it about what he did for me. He made my Thanksgiving. The feeling of helping people in need or bringing joy to someone that didn’t expect it, far exceeds any thanksgiving I’ve ever had. So in this upcoming holiday season, enjoy your family and friends, but try to make way to help someone that I can assure you will appreciate it beyond your belief!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 00:22:06 +0000
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