The Ticket

Jeanine was thirty, healthy, working and happy. Her job was with an accountant firm in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. Her boyfriend was an engineer for Westinghouse. She was having a great time with him and was planning on marrying in the near future. Every day during the warmer months, Jeanine would take her lunch and eat in the small park down the road from her company. It was gorgeous, with purple and white flowers peaking out from their planters. The fountain stood in the center of the square and made for some very relaxing moments before she had to return to work.

It was one day when work was very stressful that she looked so forward to eating in the park for lunch that she hurried to her favorite spot. As she relaxed and ate her tuna fish sandwich she saw some movement across the square. There was the woman. She was about the same age as Jeanine, though she was definitely very thin and her hair was all disheveled. Jeanine gulped as she saw her rummaging through the garbage can and picking up the empty bags to locate some food that she could eat. The woman was filthy and obviously had no place to go to wash. It broke Jeanine's heart.

During the next several months, Jeanine would see the woman every time that she came to the park looking for food. It was so sad, that she had wanted to give her some of her food. She left her a bag of goodies and wished the woman luck.

As the fall approached, there were less times that Jeanine could eat her lunch in the park and the winter would soon be upon the Pittsburgh area. She would still the woman there looking for food.

The Christmas season was fast and busy and Jeanine had almost all her shopping done. She picked up a lotto ticket at the corner store and ventured on her way to the bus stop. It was then that she saw the woman from the park. She was beaten and looked extremely worse than the last time that she saw her.

Jeanine looked down at the lotto ticket in her hand and poured lots of love into it. She approached the homeless woman and put the ticket into her hand. "You have a good Christmas and good luck. I hope you win"

The woman grasped the ticket between her tiny fingers and cried.

Jeanine never saw the woman again. Had she been hurt or told to stay off the streets? Had she won the lotto and been able to find a place to live? The questions would never be answered, but Jeanine hoped it was the second answer and that the woman had somehow been able to survive.