A THANKFUL OLD MAN

This is a short version of a story I read and can relate to.  It happened during the Great Depression when money and food were scarce.   I don't know who the author is.

The old man and his dog sat by the fire in his cabin on a cold Thanksgiving night.   His wife had passed away recently and loneliness now filled most of his life.    He had lost his faith and did not give much thought to a Thanksgiving dinner.   He thought about baking some sweet potatoes with biscuits for dinner as he had some stored in his root cellar along with some onions and carrots.    There was a knock on his door.  It was the two neighbor boys asking to come in and get warm by the fire.   They told the old man he was invited over to their house for dinner if he could bring some of his sweet potatoes as they had very little food, except some chickens and greens.   He had the boys fill a bucket with the potatoes and they took off for home telling the old man he did not need to dress up as none of them would be.    The old man did put on a clean shirt on with his overalls, put a jacket and hat on before walking through the woods for about a mile to the neighbor's cabin.   When he entered the cabin there was the pleasant smell of food cooking.  During the dinner there was pleasant conversation and the boy's father reminded the old man they had not forgot how he helped them move some firewood a few months earlier.   The father also told the old man he was welcome to have some of their hen chickens as they could not afford to feed all of them.   The old man started home with a large gunny sack containing the hens as he made his way through the woods.   He got to thinking how he could sell some of the eggs in town for cash.   While walking on this clear cold night he looked up to see a full moon and became thankful for what he had as he started regaining some of his faith.