Dear Readers: Today is Thanksgiving. We hope you are lucky enough to be spending the holiday with loving family and friends. Here's one of our favorite Thanksgiving pieces, author unknown:

Thanksgiving Prayer:

We come to this table today, O Lord, humble and thankful and glad.

We thank Thee first for the great miracle of life, for the exaltation of being human, for the capacity to love.

We thank Thee for joys both great and simple —

For wonder, dreams and hope;

For the newness of each day;

For laughter and song and a merry heart;

For compassion waiting within to be kindled;

For the forbearance of friends and the smile of a stranger;

For the arching of the earth and trees and heavens and the fruit of all three;

For the wisdom of the old;

For the courage of the young;

For the promise of the child;

For the strength that comes when needed;

For this family united here today.

Of those to whom much is given, much is required. May we and our children remember this. Amen.

Dear Annie: I lived on the streets of Los Angeles from 2001 to 2003. I won't go into the reasons why, but I didn't think I could go home. The ravages of homelessness took their toll on my eyeglasses pretty quickly. One of the earpieces was missing and a lens kept popping out. It was terribly demoralizing. People are less apt to give you opportunities to better yourself when you go beyond a certain point in appearance. I was ready to give up.

One day, on an impulse, I stopped into an eyewear boutique on Melrose Avenue. It was a nice store and I was bedraggled, so I expected to be immediately escorted out the door. That didn't happen. I asked the lady behind the counter how much it would cost for me to purchase one earpiece. I braced myself for a sarcastic comment, but instead she asked me to have a seat.

She came back in about five minutes and said, "Try these on. Do they fit?" And then she handed me a brand-new pair of frames. I stammered that I couldn't afford them and she replied, "Don't worry, sweetie. You don't owe me anything."

I began to cry. She made a few adjustments and never flinched away from me in spite of my obvious need of a shower. She was kind enough to offer me a drink of cold water. She even hugged me before I left.

I don't know the woman's name and cannot remember the name of the shop, but for years I've wanted to thank her for helping to restore my dignity and preserve my safety. She also reminded me that there are wonderful people in the world who don't judge you based on your appearance or circumstances.

I give her much credit for my getting off the streets, because shortly after that, I regained the courage to turn my life around. I'm now a wife and mother to a beautiful little boy, my family is speaking to me again, and I'm about to graduate from college.

Ma'am, if you're reading this, God bless you! You must have been an angel. Your kind gesture saved my life. I've been — and will continue — paying it forward to others in need, and you will be in my heart forever. — I Can See Clearly Now

Dear See Clearly: Your letter is perfect for Thanksgiving Day. How wonderful that your life has turned around. Hopefully this woman will see your letter and know that her act of kindness made such a difference in your life. We never know how the small things we do might affect another person, so please, readers, be kind to one another. You could be the one who makes the difference.

Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, P.O. Box 118190, Chicago, IL 60611. To find out more about Annie's Mailbox, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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