Laughter beats the pain at times

He sits in a wheelchair because of diabetes and he suffers from neuropathy of the legs and feet. He told me, “Doctors describe walking with neuropathy as walking on pins and needles, well they know nothing, it’s nothing like that and it’s pure pain!” As the 65 year old man continued, “I wasn’t always in a wheelchair, I used to work in the automotive industry.”

Gary Rupp is from Detroit, Michigan, but moved away about three months ago because the dying city got too expensive to call home. After a little research, Gary found one of the cheapest places to live was Chattanooga, Tennessee – so he made the move.

The costs of Living for Gary (Detroit Vs. Chattanooga):

Gary currently calls the ChattCity Motel on East 20th Street in Chattanooga his home. He has a room that he rents for about $300 monthly, which is cheaper than some of the dirtiest motels in Nashville, Memphis and even Murfreesboro.

In Detroit, utilities average about $115 per month in a small apartment and that small apartment in a middle class neighborhood costs about $530 per month. The small apartment is only 480 square feet in size, which is a studio apartment.

In Chattanooga, you can get the same apartment for $483 per month and utilities will cost you $94 per month or less.

While saving $68 monthly would not convince most people to move, when you start factoring in the cost of food in Tennessee verses Detroit, transportation costs, etc. – it actually makes sense for someone on a fixed income to make that move.

What happens with neuropathy of the legs?

Some of the things that neuropathy causes in the legs include: burning pain, freezing pain, jabbing feelings as if you are being stabbed, extreme sensitivity to touch, lack of coordination and muscle weakness or paralysis.

Laughter beats pain: 

I feel it is important to say that Gary laughed three times as we talked. The first time when I handed him an ice cold bottle of water, the second when I handed him a package of Oreo cookies and the third as we joked at nothingness.

"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain." - Charlie Chaplin, English comic actor, filmmaker, composer (1889-1977)

I can walk, but I have neuropathy

“I can walk, but I have neuropathy and my feet hurt really bad,” she told me. I glanced down at her feet and noticed they were swollen to the point where you could barely see her toenails.

As we talked I watched people pass her by. She looked me in the eye and said, “People ignore me, they try not to make eye contact.” Despite the fact that most refused to even look at her, she made an effort to tell everyone to have a nice day.

When I asked where she was from she laughed and said, “In the past eight years, I have lived in California, North Carolina, (pause) Tennessee and now here… Florida.” As the heat from the Orlando sun beat down on her it was obvious that she left something behind in Tennessee from the way she said “Tennessee” while glancing down. Without me even asking she remarked, “My children are in Tennessee – I gave them up so that they would have a better life than I could provide.”

At age 45 she lives on the streets. Her home is the entryway to an auto repair shop whenever they are closed at night.

“What a weary time those years were -- to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability.” ― Charles Bukowski, poet (1920-1994)