A holiday moment for the faithless

Wow. I just interviewed a dually-diagnosed mental health consumer (that is, someone with a mental illness and drug or alcohol addiction combined) who was homeless a few holiday seasons ago. Now she has an apartment, a monthly disability check, TennCare, and a Christmas tree with presents under it for her family. What makes it such a neat story is that she is so, so happy and feels so, so blessed to have what she does (still no car, no family nearby, and no boyfriend). I felt so greedy I could cry. But I didn't actually cry after all. Then she called me ma'm and she's old enough to be my mother. It was a weird, skin-crawly feeling to hear it and want to correct her, but not want to interrupt her to do it. Happy holidays.