“Every Friday, she came into the grocery store around closing time tiny, hunched, wearing a faded floral dress and plastic sandals. Her English was shaky, her accent thick, and she’d point at items, muttering words we didn’t recognize. Staff called her “the canned soup lady” because she always bought the same two-cent sale cans, plus a single banana.
One night, I noticed her arguing softly with the cashier. Her card kept declining. She clutched a crumpled coupon, tears spilling as she pleaded, “Por favor, just this once…”
I’d never spoken to her before, but something about her desperation stuck. I tapped her shoulder, smiled, and said, “I’ll cover it.” She blinked, then sobbed, gripping my arm. “You… kind soul,” she whispered.
Curious, I walked her to her car afterward. Her name was Rosaline, she explained, and the soup cans were for “the others.” Turns out, every week, she cooked a big pot of sopa de fideo at her senior apartment complex, feeding homeless folks who slept in the nearby bus station. The banana? For her neighbor’s toddler, who “never had enough.”
Rosaline lived on a fixed income, sent money to family abroad, and survived mostly on rice. Yet she gave what she could. I felt ashamed I’d never noticed her before.
The next week, I brought her a grocery cart filled with donated cans from coworkers. She wept again, then handed me a handwritten recipe card “Para ti, mi amiga. ”
Now, our store stocks a “kindness shelf” thanks to her. Customers donate pasta, sauce, even veggies. Last month, Rosaline taught a group of teens how to cook her soup. They grumbled at first, but when a man sleeping outside ate three bowls and said, “I feel human again,” they shut up and stirred harder.
Rosaline’s not dramatic. She doesn’t need a spotlight. She just shows up, week after week, reminding us that generosity isn’t about having much, it’s about sharing anyway.
And every time my coworkers roll their eyes at the “canned soup lady,” I hand them a ladle and say, “Go help her ladle.”
They always come back quieter, like they’ve seen something holy in a plastic bowl.”
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Let this story reach more hearts….
Credit – Candy Jones ( respect 🫡)
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