A Black Book Miracle

It was a hot scorching summer day, and Shelby Knight was doing everything she can to cool her small cramped trailer. The trailer she lived in with her two daughters, Taylor 16, and McKenzie 10, was a small 2 bedroom trailer located in a poverty stricken trailer park located in a bad area of town. Shelby had no central air conditioning and was depending on three oscillating medium sized fans to cool the living room, her bedroom, and the girls bedroom. It was the best she could do considering she was a single parent and working a minimum wage job at a truck stop diner. She was able to obtain a housing assistance voucher to help pay rent for the trailer as well as qualify for the small amount of food stamps that she received. The car she was driving was an old beat up 2000 Kia Rio that constantly leaked oil. She bought the car from her Aunt for $300 with some of her tax money refund. Even though it wasn't the best car and constantly gave her issues, it did at least get her and her girls from point A to B. Fortunate for her, her Aunt's husband knew a lot about cars and was able to fix the bulk of any issues she had with the car. For major issues, she would have to take it to a professional auto repair shop in which she could not afford. She did everything she can to limit her travels to only short distance commutes. Shelby was never married to either of her girls father's. Taylor's father abandoned her when Taylor was 2 years old. Henry was a severe drug addict and one day stole what little money Shelby had out of her purse and left the house to never be seen again. Years later, Shelby learned he died of a drug overdose in a roach invested motel. McKenzie's Dad, Chris, was around for most of McKenzie's childhood until he attempted to rob a bank unknown to Shelby and is now serving a 12 year sentence for attempted armed robbery. On this particular day as Shelby was serving the girls dinner before she had to leave for work for her night shift, her daughter Taylor asked her a question that would tear at Shelby's heart. Taylor said "Mom, are we always going to be poor"? Shelby took the frozen pizza for dinner out of the oven and stopped and stared at her daughter. She was speechless. She walked over to the small kitchen table where her daughters were sitting and sat down. She grabbed both of her girls hands, and with tears in her eyes, she said, "We are not poor. We may not have a lot but we have what we need. And because we have what we need, we are not poor. Please know that I will always do what I need to do to make sure you girls are taken care of and that we have a roof over our heads and food to eat." Her youngest daughter McKenzie then said, "Mom, please don't cry. We see how hard you have to work to take care of us." Shelby hugged her girls and then place the pizza on the table for them to eat. While they were eating, she went to her bedroom to get herself ready for work that night. She hated working at the truck stop diner. She worked the 9pm to 5:30am shift. She was on her feet the whole shift except for when she took her half hour lunch and one 15 minute break. A lot of the truckers who came in were jerks most of the time but there were those who were kind and pleasant. She was well liked at work by her coworkers and manager. She had been working there for 3 years now and still was barely making enough to live on. She depended a lot on the tips left by the customers. Some of the truckers were occasionally generous in there tip giving while others threw whatever tip they felt like giving. As the time drew near for her to leave for work, she kissed her girls goodbye and told them she would see them in the morning. Because her girls did not leave for school until 7:30am, when she got off work, she was home just before they awoke and got ready for school. While at work, Shelby could not stop thinking about what her daughter asked her about them being poor. It pained her knowing that her daughter felt they were poor. Shelby wish there was something she could do to invest in a better future for her and her girls. She only had a high school education and no specific skills that she felt were useful. During her lunch break, a man came into the diner who she thought could have been a trucker and sat at the counter and ordered a cup of coffee. Shelby watched the man from where she was sitting at a booth eating an egg sandwich for her lunch. She had never seen the man in the diner before and there was something mysterious about him. The man looked around and suddenly saw Shelby sitting at a booth in the corner. The man left his seat at the counter and went over to where Shelby was. As he approached the booth, Shelby looked up startled to see him, and the man said, "Glad to see you taking a load off. I see how hard you work." Shelby then said, "But I have never seen you in here before so how could you have seen me?" Shelby began to panic a little thinking maybe this guy had been stalking her. The man responded with "Let's just say I manage to sneak in and sneak out fast enough from time to time when you are too busy to notice that I'm here. When I do sneak in, I see how hard you work and how much pain you are in from being on your feet all night. But what strikes me the most about you is that you keep a smile on your face regardless. And I like that." Shelby thanked him for his kind words and as she was starting to stand up and walk away from the booth to go clock back in from her break, the man took a little black book from his pocket and handed it to Shelby. The man said, "Please take this. Do not open it until you have gotten off work." Shelby responded with" Why are you giving me this?" and the man said" Let's just say it's a little token of my appreciation for you keeping a smile on your face and refusing to complain." Shelby thanked the man again and then he paid for his coffee at the counter and left the diner. Shelby did as the man told her and waited until she got off work too open the black book. As she sat in her car before driving off to go home, she opened the black book and found a small white envelope with her name written on it behind the front cover of the book. She opens the envelope and was shocked at what she saw. There was a check for $100,000 and a note that said "Thank you for 3 years of consistent hard work and for keeping such a beautiful smile and never complaining. It's rare that the diner is lucky to get such a hardworking beautiful employee both on the inside and out. This is just a token to show my appreciation and to help you build a better future for yourself and your daughters. A beautiful person like yourself is not meant to be stuck working at a diner. Thank you for all of your hard work." The letter was signed Thomas Jacobs, the owner of the diner.