I don’t understand how they knew. That’s the thought that keeps running through my mind. I don’t understand how they knew, but they did.
I have a mental health disability. Basically, over the last month I’ve been unable to sleep without heavy drugs. Before that for about two months (estimated), I had persistent thoughts of self-harm and a feeling I called “brain itch” — which is just as unpleasant as it sounds. My husband lost his job because of having to stay home too often to support me, and we’ve gradually been falling behind on bills. I thought we would be okay, but this month we’re behind by $490 on our rent. If we don’t raise and pay the full rent amount by July 5th, we won’t be able to avoid eviction even if we pay a little late. It pretty much sucks.
As you might imagine, I’ve been freaking out steadily over the past month. Unable to sleep, unable to pay rent despite working full-time, I’ve been desperately reaching out for help wherever I could; meaning from the government, and a few close friends.
So today when an envelope from “Joseph and Mary Carpenter” arrived in the mail, I really thought it was probably spam or something. Sure, it was addressed to me, but that didn’t really mean much.
Until I opened the envelope and pulled out a card from the Environmental Defense Fund.
And $140 fell out of the card.
The only thing I know is that “Joseph and Mary Carpenter” from “1224 Heaven Road” in “Bethlehem, NH” are literally saints. And I literally don’t know who they are.
There were no clues inside or out — no text is written inside the card. There is a printed out label on the envelope. Are they liberal Christians? I don’t know; they would seem to be, since they have an EDF card to put money into and they hammered the religious subtext pretty hard, but I can’t be sure.
All I know is that I’m now only $350 away from keeping my family off the streets. I’m crying, but instead of tears of pain they’re tears of joy. We might be able to survive the next month thanks to the kindness of someone (some people?) who preferred to remain anonymous.
So, on the off chance you’re watching, Joseph and Mary Carpenter, thank you. Thank you for caring about my family. Thank you for being one of the most kind and considerate people I’ve ever (never?) met. And thank you for helping save us.