In the Blink of an Eye

By

Rick C. Garcia

©2025 Rick C. Garcia. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission from the author.

Everyone knows that life can change — for better or for worse — in the blink of an eye. My life started out wonderful; dad, mom, sisters, and me. I have very fond memories of my father. I still remember him holding the seat of my bike to steady me when I learned to ride without training wheels. I remember him hooting and hollering and clapping his hands as I wobbled down the street without any help. It was a happy day.

BLINK. Now I’m fatherless.

My mom was a homemaker. She had no formal education, never had a job, and was raising four small children, ages one, three, five, and seven, by herself.

BLINK. We became poor — dirt poor.

I remember kids in school making fun of me because my clothes were either too big, too small, too dirty, or worn for too many days. We had no car, and there were times we had no electricity, water, or food. Some days, free lunch at school was the only meal I had.

Thanksgiving was coming up, and my family was in that miserable existence between applying for food stamps and welfare and waiting to receive them. The day before Thanksgiving, Mama had me stand out by the mailbox as the mailman made his way down our street. He handed me several pieces of mail. One was from Social Services. Mama got really happy when she saw it. We gathered around, staring up at her while she hurriedly opened it. We watched the happiness fade from her face. It was a notice informing her she’d filled out a form wrong. Mama started crying.

BLINK. It was a sad day.

Later that day, my older sister and I were playing outside when a car pulled up in front of our house. A lady got out of the car, opened the back door, took out two brown bags of groceries, and placed them on the ground in our front yard. She then smiled and waved at us. We waved back. She got back in her car and sped away, never saying a word. My sister and I raced into the house hollering for Mama to come outside and see. Mama didn’t believe us at first, but she finally came outside to see what all the fuss was about. We watched our mother fall to her knees in our front yard and sob like a baby when she saw the two full bags of groceries the lady left us.

BLINK. It was now a happy day.

The next day we all sat at the table to have our Thanksgiving meal. I remember my two little sisters looking all wide-eyed, like they were on an adventure, because they’d never seen that much food before. My older sister and I sat at the table fighting over who would get the wishbone. Mama just smiled and hummed as she carved the turkey and made our plates. We never prayed at meals before, but that year Mama had us all join hands and bow our heads while my older sister and I recited the only prayer we knew; the one they taught in school: “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food…”

We never found out who that lady was or how she knew our situation, but we will forever remember her for the kindness she showed our family.

BLINK. Life had changed — for the better.

I’ll never forget the day I saw two kids. One was on a tricycle wearing a dirty dress, and the other wore only a diaper that looked like it weighed five pounds. Mama stopped the car. My older sister and I jumped out. We set two bags of groceries on the ground, smiled and waved, and Mama drove out of there like we were leaving the scene of a crime.

It was a happy day.