A volunteer at a homeless shelter had been bringing clothes and toys and special books and games to a woman with two young boys in the shelter. The woman was quiet and grateful but not effusive about her thanks. She never had a lot of conversation with the volunteer, but nevertheless the volunteer continued to bring her things she thought the family would enjoy. Sometimes it was food, or maybe a new blanket, always they were items that seemed to meet a specific need or an interest.

            Several weeks into their strange relationship, the woman with the young boys was going through a rough time. She had responded in heated anger to another person at the shelter and was issued a warning. The director of the program told the volunteer that in spite of this outward burst of anger, the woman had expressed great love for the volunteer who visited her routinely. This was a relationship she looked forward to and didn’t want the consequence of her anger to be the loss of these regular visits. 

            This really took the volunteer’s breath away. Her face changed and her eyebrows furrowed with surprise and intrigue. “Why? She never really talks to me. We don’t have a real relationship.” The director said, “She may not speak much, but she has never been loved before. And you keep coming back. You bring her things she needs, you always remember to include her children, and you come when you say you will come. No one has ever done that for her before. This is the first time anyone has loved her.”

            There are thing

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