Cardboard House

I have been living on the streets for some time now. I believe it has been about 4 months. The way that I have learned to keep track of the days is that on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays the women’s shelter offers free showers. It is great because they also provide the travel size  shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap and a washcloth for the week. On Tuesdays, there is a drug store that offers lots of in store specials so my monthly check from the government can be stretched. Then, on Sundays there are many churches in the area that offer free meals. Other than being homeless, life is not that bad. Recently, I have found a good sleep spot behind the drug store. I have the roof of the building to protect me when it rains and they have tons of boxes that I use for shelter. I just wander through town during the day and then sleep there at night. 

However, what I did not take into account for was the cold winter weather. I was able to get some warm jackets and pants from a clothing drive, but that will not be enough. While I was walking around the drug store, the weather woman on the news said that there was going to be a blizzard that was going to be hitting town. 

I am not prepared to sleep outside in my cardboard house in this blizzard. I am not ready to freeze to death, but I thought about this too late and women’s shelters are all full. What am I to do? After sitting in the snow for a good 30 minutes, I decided to walk around town and browse around the stores. There are a lot of stores in the area that open late. If I walk around these stores I can have a few minutes of warmth at a time. 

According to the clock in the store, it is 10pm. Thank goodness this store is open 24 hours, so maybe if I walk down the aisles a few times I can get at least 30 minutes or so of time in the store. The weather is quite bad outside and the TV  is showing that it is recommended that people stay home and not go out in this blizzard. 

Great. I am a homeless woman. Where am I supposed to go? This empty store is my only option at this time. I walk through each of the aisles and take a look at every item on the shelf. I pulled out a shopping list from my pocket that I found in the dumpster to look like I am looking for specific items. 

As I walked up and down the aisles I could not see anyone else in the store. It was empty and quiet, except for one thing...I hear a baby. 

I figured it was a TV commercial and continued walking and examining the items, but then the electricity went out. It felt so dark, creepy and I could still hear the baby. After 10 minutes of no light I decided to leave. I made my way to the front of the store near the checkout counter when I found the baby abandoned on the floor. 

She was left on a blanket on the ground where she was on her belly trying to crawl. She had a letter attached to her back with writing that was very difficult to read, but said:

Hi, my name is Annie and I am 5 months old. My mommy and daddy told me that it would be best for me to be with a family that can care for me better. Please give me a home and love me

I looked around to see if there was anyone else in the store, but it was way too dark to see anyone else. I grabbed the baby and also grabbed a shopping cart so that I could grab some items. I walked through the baby aisle and grabbed some diapers, baby wipes, baby powder and formula. Then I found some water. Then, I walked to the checkout when I remembered no one else was in the store and the electricity was out. I made a mental note to return to the store to pay for the items later. 

I looked outside and the blizzard seemed to worsen and all I could see was white. So, I decided to stay in the store. I walked through the aisles one more time to grab a styrofoam cooler, towels, and a small portable butane stove so that I could warm up the formula. 

The cooler was made into a bed for Annie and she slept easily after her feeding. As she laid there in the cooler I wondered to myself, how can someone just leave their baby alone in a store in the middle of a blizzard? She was so precious. She was the first person that I had that much contact with in the past 4 months. I picked her up and held her close and we slept through the night. 

The next day, the blizzard had settled and it was still chilly outside, but we had to get out of the store before anyone arrived. I walked to the women’s shelter to see if there was anything that they could do about the baby because I had difficulties taking care of myself and did not know what I was going to do with a baby. When I arrived at the door a woman greeted me. She saw the baby that I was carrying and invited me in and walked me to an open cot. I feared that they were going to ask me about the baby, but the baby was my ticket to a warm place to stay.

I thought about telling them that it was not my baby and that I found her, but then realized that since I am homeless and living on a limited income they would take her away from me. In this short amount of time I have become attached to sweet little Annie. She had brought joy into my pathetic homeless life. I thought that maybe I will hold onto her for a few days so that I can enjoy the warmth of the shelter instead of my cardboard home. 

A few months passed and I took full advantage of all the resources and services to help me get back on my feet. I built a strong relationship with one of the ladies that worked at the shelter and finally trusted her enough to tell her that Annie was a baby that I found and showed her the letter that was attached to her. I imagined that she might have reported it and they would take Annie away from me, but instead she connected me with a social worker and a lawyer that was also a volunteer at the shelter to figure out a way for me to gain custody of her. I had a job and was working on finding my own place so they thought that it was promising for me to be able to continue to have Annie in my life. 

Eventually, Annie and I moved out of the shelter and into a studio apartment. They worked out a way for me to adopt Annie stating that she was given up to the shelter and they were not able to locate the parents. Not really sure how they did it, but I was happy that I was out on my own and back on my feet and even happier that I am able to share it with Annie. She is growing more and more each day. It is weird how everything happens for a reason and I am so glad that I found Annie in that store.