So Friday I had to go to the unemployment office to fill out some paperwork. I had spent some time on unemployment after getting laid off from my previous job.

While I was in the office, there was an older mother, I would say mid 30s. She had her son with her. Im guessing he was 8 years old. This was during school hours but due to the snow school had been closed. It was obvious that the mother had no choice but to bring him along. He had various hot wheel cars spread around the table, a coloring book, and some crossword puzzles. He was playing with the hot wheel cars, then looked up to his mom and said “Why are you so stressed?” This is one of those moments that just made my heart melt.

It makes me think about the economy and the current state of living. Im a 25 year old that is living rather well. I get to travel a good bit, and for the most part I live rather comfortably. My bills are all paid on time, my stomach is always full, and I have a roof over my head. Being on unemployment for a bit looking for a job, getting paid well under what I used to make, I understand what its like to have a huge budget cut. However, I am blessed (depending how you look at it) in the fact that I dont have any children during my struggle.

I wanted so bad to reach out to this family. I wanted to go sit at the table and play with the toys with the kid and put a smile on his face. Keep him off of his mother so she could get the matters she needed to taken care of.

I know nothing of this family, but yet, I cant shake this image from my head. It was a cute gesture of the child trying to cheer his mother up, while being a grown up, I understand some of the struggles she is going through. All I can do at this point is keep this family in my thoughts and wish them the best.