Mary was out of sorts all Thanksgiving Day because of the girl's death.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of the girl's incident, and she gradually began to question the existence of God.
In her mind, if God truly existed, he would never do such a cruel thing to his believers on Thanksgiving Day.
In the evening, Connie, who had prepared a table full of dishes, called out to her daughter, Mary, who was still in the yard contemplating life in front of the monument: "Mary, it's time for the family meal!"
Feeling the joyful atmosphere at home, and then thinking of a couple who were sad because they had lost their daughter at that moment.
At this instant, Mary's faith in God wavered.
Since God could not protect his believers, what she was doing now had no meaning.
Feeling dejected, Mary stepped forward and kicked down the monument she had carefully built, then stormed into the house.
Looking at his wife, who was sitting at the dining table radiating a low-pressure aura, George spoke up to remind her: "Mary, it's time for pre-meal prayer."
"No, he doesn't deserve our thanks!" Mary said angrily.
George was unaccustomed to his wife's change.
After a pause, he still smiled and said: "Alright, let me skip the prayer and just start eating."
Then, to liven the atmosphere, he raised the glass in front of him and continued: "Thanks to Connie for preparing such a sumptuous feast for us!"
Thanksgiving dinner is all about the atmosphere.
So, regardless of whether it was juice or beer in front of them, everyone raised their glasses.
Even Mary, who looked unhappy, raised the beer glass beside her.
After a round of thanks, Connie smiled and greeted everyone: "Everyone, try my special roasted meat, and the turkey..."
...
Although Mary maintained a cold expression throughout this Thanksgiving dinner, with Connie and George adjusting the atmosphere, the dining table remained lively.
And this dinner lasted a long time.
After Mike and Connie left, Mary also sent the children and her almost-drunk husband back to their respective rooms.
After tidying up the dishes, Mary took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and went to the living room alone, curling up on the sofa.
Clearly, she had not yet come to terms with the girl's incident.
"Mom—"
While Mary was drinking in silence, Sheldon came to her.
"Shelly, why aren't you asleep yet?" Mary sat up from the sofa and asked with concern.
"I saw you were very unhappy today..." Sheldon thought of comforting words: "I want to tell you that I love you—"
Hearing her youngest son's heartfelt confession, Mary's mood improved greatly.
She got up and hugged him, saying: "I love you too, Shelly."
After a long time, Mary, whose mood had calmed down, said: "Alright, Shelly. You should go to sleep."
Then, she sent her youngest son back to his room and covered him with the blanket.
Seeing her youngest son asleep, Mary finally smiled.
The melancholy in her heart seemed to have largely disappeared.
God had already given her such a happy family; what more could she ask for?
The next day, when Mary arrived at the church, she seemed to recall the girl's incident again.
Reverting to her old state, she found Pastor Jeff and asked: "Is God truly merciful?"
"Of course, everything we enjoy now is bestowed by God..."
Although he didn't know Mary's current situation, Pastor Jeff still gave her a positive answer.
Then, without waiting for Mary to ask further, Pastor Jeff continued: "Oh, by the way, Mary. The church's investigator is away for a while, so I'd like you to fill in for that position.
I'll give you an extra one hundred dollars in salary each week, what do you think?"
"Really?" Mary heard that she had a more important job and that her salary had increased significantly.
She immediately showed a happy expression.
Her previous work content was entirely acting as Pastor Jeff's personal assistant, and the work was monotonous and boring.
Every day, besides preparing coffee for the pastor, she would help him organize documents.
At most, she would file taxes for the church once a month.
And the tax filing work was even shared with her intelligent youngest son.
So, Mary's previous job at the church was both very easy and very boring.
But now the new job as an investigator was different.
As a semi-welfare organization, the church also had the task of caring for elderly people living alone, left-behind children, and others in the surrounding area.
This job could directly help others, which was very meaningful to Mary, who was still feeling a bit lost at the moment.
"Oh, by the way, on our care list, there's an old man who retired from the military.
I heard he has a very peculiar personality, so you need to be extra careful..." Pastor Jeff specifically warned.
According to the information, this old man had no children, no friends, and was a peculiar pauper, which sounded very difficult to deal with.
"It's okay, leave it to me." Mary was full of drive.
Then, she followed the address on the document and found the old man's house.
As soon as Mary entered, she smelled an indescribable strange odor filling the room.
And the small room was piled high with all sorts of trash and clutter.
"Hello, is anyone home?" Mary found a spot to stand amidst a pile of clutter and then called out into the room.
After a long time, an old man in a wheelchair came out from the inner room.
He stared at Mary with unfriendly eyes and asked: "Who are you?"
The old man looked very ancient, his face covered in age spots, but his eyes were still bright and fierce.
"I'm a staff member from the church, here to help you..." Mary suppressed her discomfort and forced a smile, saying.
"The church changed people again?
You look a bit more pleasing than the last person." The old man's hoarse, low tone was still uncomfortable to hear.
However, after learning Mary's identity, his gaze was not as frightening as before.
"Yes, I'll be taking care of you for a while now."
Mary tentatively asked: "Excuse me, is there anything you need my help with right now?"
"Are you blind?" The old man looked around the cluttered room, his meaning very clear.
"I'll help you clean up right away." Mary said no more and immediately began tidying the room.
Meanwhile, after staring at Mary for a few moments, the old man continued to turn his wheelchair and went back inside.
More than two hours later, Mary, with sweat on her forehead, finally finished cleaning the room.
Sunlight streamed into the clean and tidy small house, bringing some life to the home.
"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Mary, who had been busy for a long time, felt a great sense of accomplishment looking at the clean and tidy room.
"I haven't bathed in a long time." The old man said dryly.
He didn't seem to have any intention of thanking Mary for cleaning the room so thoroughly.
"You want me to help you bathe?" Mary asked, both surprised and troubled.
However, the old man did not answer Mary's question.
His sharp eyes once again fixed on Mary.
"Alright, I understand." Perhaps out of sympathy, Mary agreed to his request.
Moreover, she had indeed smelled an unpleasant odor on him.
Clearly, the old man had not lied.
Another hour later, the old man, who had washed up and changed into clean clothes, sat back in his wheelchair.
"If you don't have anything else, I'll be leaving now." It was already afternoon, and Mary, who had been busy for most of the day, hadn't received a single word of thanks from him.
So, feeling a bit dissatisfied, she didn't want to stay in that place any longer.
"Wait—" The old man called out to Mary and instructed: "Go get me the box on top of the wardrobe."
Mary, who was about to leave, patiently took down a small tin box from the high shelf of the wardrobe and handed it to the old man.
The box was opened, revealing a golden medal inside.
The old man carefully caressed it, as if lost in thought.
"Can I go now?" Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Mary asked.
"You can go," the old man said without lifting his head.
As Mary reached the door, she heard the old man say again: "If I die, please keep this medal safe for me..."
Hearing the word 'die,' Mary stopped, and when she looked back, the old man had already returned to the inner room.
"What a strange person..." After shaking her head, Mary walked towards her home.
During the Cooper family's dinner time, Mary shared the old man's story with everyone.
Seeing his wife return to her former state, George smiled and said: "You are already an angel now."
Mary had indeed done a good deed today that deserved praise.