On the street where I have lived for ten years, there is a small vegetable and fruit shop. Its owner is Mrs. Maria – a woman around sixty years old, with gray hair tied in a simple bun, always dressed in a black apron and black shoes that are already a bit worn out. Every morning, when I go to school, I see her at the front of the shop: arranging vegetables on plates, washing apples and pears, smiling at every customer who walks through the door. And do you know such a person?
Mrs. Maria is not rich, her shop is small, and the goods are not the cheapest in the area, but everyone in our neighborhood likes her. Why? Because she is the kind of person who remembers everyone. She remembers that Mrs. Anna from the neighboring house doesn’t eat onions, so she always forgets them when packing her shopping. She remembers that my brother is allergic to strawberries, so she never asks him if he wants to add them to his basket. She remembers that old Mr. Jan can’t see the prices well, so she always reads them aloud to him and helps him choose what is freshest.
I met Mrs. Maria when I was six years old. One morning, my mom sent me to her shop to buy carrots and onions. I didn’t know the prices yet, I didn’t know how much money I had in my pocket, so I stood there, surprised, not knowing what to do. Mrs. Maria noticed this, came up to me with a smile, gently touched my head and said: “Listen, dear, don’t worry. Take this carrot and onion, and mom will pay later. And when you grow up, you’ll help me arrange the vegetables, okay?”
From that day on, every afternoon after school, I spent time in her shop. I helped her wash vegetables, pack shopping, greet customers. She didn’t pay me anything for it, but she always gave me a fresh apple or pear when I finished working. She told me about her children, who lived in another city, about her husband, who died a few years ago, about how she loved to look at the flowers in her garden behind the shop. She was like a second grandmother to me – warm, gentle, always ready to help.
One day, in spring, it was raining heavily. I was coming home from school, soaked, without an umbrella, because I had forgotten it at home. Mrs. Maria saw me from the shop window, immediately opened the door and called me inside. She gave me a cup of hot tea with honey, a dry scarf and said: “You don’t want to get sick, do you? Wait until the rain stops, and I’ll take you home.”
When the rain stopped, Mrs. Maria closed the shop for a while, took her old umbrella and walked me home. During the walk, she said to me: “Dear, life is sometimes hard, but there is always someone who will help you. You are such a good girl, so remember: be kind and helpful, because that’s the most important thing in life.” I listened to her, looking at her hands – they were dry, with cracks, because she worked with water and vegetables every day, but they were the warmest hands I knew.
Today I am sixteen years old, and Mrs. Maria still has her small shop. She still arranges vegetables on plates, smiles at customers, remembers each of us. I still help her when I have time, and she still gives me fresh fruit. Every time I see her, I think: this is such a person – ordinary, hardworking, full of love and patience. And do you know such a person?
Someone who is there for you, even when you have no one to turn to? Someone who remembers the little things that don’t matter to others? Someone who gives to you without expecting anything in return? I know – it’s Mrs. Maria from the shop. And you? Do you know such a person who makes the world a better place, just by being themselves?
Информация по комментариям в разработке