EDITOR’S NOTE: Tonda Genther is owner and operator of Pet Klips, 702 West Superior St. in Wayland.
To the editor:
We know of a young man living out of his car. We see him daily where he is parked and it is SO unsettling to me.
And I know he isn’t the only one out there. It’s just SO sad!
Today I went by and he had his half gallon of chocolate milk sitting outside his car door so it stays cold and he was lying in his old car. He has been staying there awhile now.
It just breaks my heart to see how in today’s times that some of our young people are so hopeless. Yes, most by their own doing and bad choices, but when you see this, you just want to help, but are powerless to fix anyone and we can’t afford to help everybody.
Brian (my husband) has stopped visit him a few times as well, and gave him a few bucks so he could eat.
Then today, I received a call from a gal who heard I was giving dog food out and asked if I could help her while she is trying to help a group of homeless people feed their animals. The way I take it, there is more than one family involved, so I told her of course, I would help. I told her she could pick up all the food I have left tomorrow morning.
It just makes me sick how times have changed.
I have had my dark days, trust me, and I will never take my life for granted again. I have known and received God’s grace and forgiveness and have tried hard to learn from all my mistakes.
But it just seems like when I was younger it was different. We got in trouble, lots of it sometimes, I certainly did my share of crazy stuff, but it wasn’t like today times… It is so much more horrible, the things young people and some older adults choose to do, those who are doing things that could kill them, put them in jail for a long time or make them homeless with no hope for a future.
I also believe there are some folks who find themselves in these positions through no fault of their own. It just breaks my heart to watch.
I am so grateful today for where I am in life, all that I have, for all the hard lessons and the ability to have made the changes I needed to make and continue to have to make.
Today, I pray for our young people and the homeless that God would guide them in the right direction, open the doors they need, so they can get the help they need and become healthy productive people. To somehow find the courage to make the changes they need to make, have hopes, goals and a bright future.
Maybe you all could say a little prayer for all those in need, who need it most, for the homeless families, for this young man and all the lost, lost young people.
I just thought I needed to share this. So much is going on nowadays, and life is so hard, and harder yet for some among us.
