The family was walking, as always....

and it was so cold and wet and miserable outside...
she saw them often....
the mother and father with the two, small children...
bundled up in their tattered, old coats and hats...
the parents carried big , dirty blankets on their backs, in order to
keep the children warm...
and they wore garbage bags to keep themselves dry....
she cried bitterly whenever they passed by...
many times wanting to offer them a meal...
but they were not beggars, this family ...
they had a certain pride about them...
and they were wholly unapproachable ...
no question about that....
they had a broken shopping cart...
it was lined with the garbage bags...
her heart felt such pain as she gazed at the troubled family....
oddly, they had a dog....
they pulled the old, grungy dog with them always...
the world was a hard place, filled with inequity and broken promises...
she watched as this homeless, forlorn family pulled out a menorah
from the shopping cart, lit candles,
and sang 'maoz tzur', en famille....