I had seen the little girl before, always clutching her teddy bear as she crossed the road with her father. Every day since October, I had spotted them through my office windows as they made their way towards the food kitchen. The little girl stopped dead in her tracks, mesmerised by a red dress in the window display of the children’s store. The father tugged at her hand, the line-up for the food kitchen was growing quickly. “Come on Annabelle!” he yelled. They took their place in line but the girl’s eyes were fixated on the little red dress with the big puffy sleeves.

 

Work had me chained to my desk for the next few hours but my mind was elsewhere. Visions of my 7 year old daughter Belle last Christmas surfaced, she was twirling around the living room singing Jingle Bells in her favourite dress. Then I thought of Annabelle at the food shelter staring longingly at the shop window with a forlorn look on her face. They were two very contrasting images, it led me to sympathise even more with the little girl. A decision was made, I would collect a few of Belle’s dresses that were now too small for her and give them to Annabelle tomorrow. 

 

It was past 2 o’clock the next day and yet Annabelle and her father still hadn’t made an appearance at the food kitchen. I had a large bag filled to the brim with dresses in every colour of the rainbow sitting in my office. I wondered where they were. As the clock struck 3 the doors to the kitchen closed and the blinds were drawn.

 

Two weeks passed and there was no sign of Annabelle. The little red dress in the window had now disappeared and was replaced with a Christmas tree. Having lost hope in my good intentions, I drove to the nearest St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland shop after work to donate the bag of clothes. Traffic was horrendous due to torrential rain and so the store was closed by the time I arrived. I was tempted to leave the bag outside the front door but didn’t want the dresses to get wet.

 

I dropped the bag off at the store the next day, the volunteer lady gasped as she took and admired each dress from the bag. A mother and daughter who had been begging across the road walked into the store at that moment. The girl of about 5 years of age came running up to the counter, “Mummy, mummy look how beautiful that dress is,” yelled the girl. She had the blue silk dress on in a flash and was twirling around the room just as Belle did. She was giddy with excitement and her eyes were shining bright. The little girl had to have it. I told the girl she could pick as many dresses as she liked to have for herself. Her eyes went as round as saucers!

 

A feeling of satisfaction came over me as I left the store and a smile spread across my face from ear to ear. Whether it was the shower of thanks the SVDP volunteer lady gave me or look of happiness on the little girls face as she twirled in the dress, it was a very uplifting moment. Even though Annabelle might not get a new dress as I had planned, I had made someone less fortunate than I feel special today. In my opinion, that’s the best feeling in the world. Revisiting when the store was open was certainly worth it. I’ll do it again any day.