Laughter

I met quite the character this evening at the Bridge Ministry, where food is served to the homeless of Nashville, TN.

I was with a friend of mine who was once homeless and we had just visited the gravesite of his brother, who would have been 27 this year. Sadly, he died in a house fire two years ago and his surviving brother wanted to place flowers on his gravestone on the anniversary of his brother’s death. On the way home he told me he wanted to stop by the Jefferson Street Bridge, where the feeding ministry takes place for those without food and water. It was during that stop that we met this man (pictured).

He did not tell me his name, but did tell me he was a U.S. Veteran who served in the Marines. When I asked where he was stationed, he told me… “It’s Classified and Confidential,” and then laughed while opening his mouth wide. I then asked where he was from and he replied, “The United States of America…” ending in laughter.

As the brief conversation continued I asked if he enjoyed the food at the Bridge, “Yes,” followed by more laughter. He kept smiling and laughing.

Well, that was my conversation. It made me laugh and it was a good close to a night for a friend that had a tough day missing his brother. I’m glad he was in such good spirits and was able to make others smile.

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” - Charlie Chaplin

Girl Scout Cookies offer a big smile to the homeless

A little note cheered Kevin up… The handwritten note on the box of Girl Scout Cookies donated to homeless men and women stated, “You are Awesome.”

The cookies were donated by Girl Scout Troop 6212 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The second grade girls took the time to attach a special note to each and every box that was handed out under bridges, on the street and along railroad tracks.

Kevin is a U.S. Army Veteran who was once stationed in Panama. He battles with schizophrenia and currently lives under a bridge. He is working with Wounded Warriors and the VA to hopefully secure group housing and further help with the voices that torment him nightly. 

Like a freight train traveling through your head

Her wiry hair blows in the wind as she shuffles down the street at six in the morning as she yells at the air before her. She has little control over the arguments she has as the voices in her head have a tendency to make her appear as if she is angry. 

On nights that I hand out food, you have to actually ask her to take the boxed dinners, yogurt, bread and veggies. She has never asked me for a handout... she simply survives in a lonely motel room.

When I ask about her family I have to listen intently as she tells me between fits of what appear to be someone else talking to her - someone I can't hear, but she hears as loud as a freight train roaring past her at 100 miles per hour. She says, "I have a daughter, a daughter, a daughter who lives, who lives in Florida." I smile, "That's awesome, how is she?" She responds, "Good, good, she's real good - but, she's good."

"Schizophrenia cannot be understood without understanding despair." R. D. Laing

God is Good

This man stood-out to me today. As I approached him he was overwhelmingly excited to see me and two of my friends. We gave him several bags of food. "God Bless you, God Bless me with this food," he said repeatedly. He looked to me and then looked towards the sky, "God is Good, God is always Good!"

I cannot explain his enthusiasm over the food he was given. It meant so much to him to receive Chef Boyardee, canned Spam, a jug of water, among many other items.

On a side note, he was hip with his old school cassette Walkman. He told us how much he enjoyed listening to his tapes on it daily. He smiled when he said it outlasts "those iPods!"

U.S. Marine on route to 300 mile destination

It was a rainy Florida day when I met this U.S. Marine walking down the highway with his bike. He explained he was unable to ride the bike because his chain was bent. “What happened to it,” I asked? “My lock went through the back wheel and then the chain and someone tried to pry it off bending my chain,”  he said.

He told me he was headed about 300 miles into Florida with a destination of St. Petersburg. “I want to see my former Lieutenant before he crokes,” he said with a laugh.  “He’s 86 and kinda’ like Lt. Dan from Forest Gump, but a great guy,” he said with a smile. “I refuse to hold my thumb out or ask for a ride, nor will I fly a sign asking for money – I can make it.”

The bike he was on came from a Destin, FL church. Evidently, the church has a program to help those in need. They recycle bikes from bike rental companies in the Destin area. Each bike is repaired and then outfitted with a sticker that says, “Donated bikes rehabbed by St. Andrews Church, Destin, FL.” Awesome program for folks like this retired U.S. Marine. 

Empty Places: The old Tennessee State Prison

This evening I journeyed back into the infamous Tennessee State Prison. Some call it the Castle while others simply label it a fortress. See my previous visit HERE.

The abandoned and decrepit prison is located near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The massive structure first opened in 1898.

The prison had a death row area that included solitary cells for troubled inmates on the row. Death row also had an electric chair for the final days of some inmates in Tennessee.

The prison closed in 1992 and has graffiti on some of the cell walls that suggest some were released in 1990 as the prison began the shutdown process. Other inmate graffiti calls on help from Jesus. It is fascinating, sad and creepy all at the same time.

I'm 80, I'm staying

"So, where are you from," I asked? "I'm from Ohio," he told me, saying that he came to Atlanta for his daughters wedding. "Are you headed back to Ohio soon," I questioned? "No, I'm 80, I'm here to stay." 

"Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art." - Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

I love for people to see my smile

You would have thought I gave this man, age 39, a million dollars.

I was walking down a busy city street with the temperature outside in the 80's and this gentleman caught my eye. He had on a winter toboggan and two coats, layered. He was not asking for money, just leaning against a store window watching people walk by. I had two bucks in my pocket and I handed it to him.

When he saw me lift my camera to my eye he quickly held up the money and said, "Can I do this when you take my picture?" I laughed and said, "Sure you can." He then told me that he loves for people to see his smile. 

As I walked away, he was still smiling. 

William Arthur Ward author of Fountains of Faith, is one of America's most quoted writers of inspirational statements in the world. Ward, who died in 1994 at the age of 73, stated "A warm smile is the universal language of kindness."

Six months to live

While in Georgia, I came across a traveling husband and wife who had been married for 15 years. The wife (pictured) was given about six months to live after being diagnosed as having a inoperable brain tumor and the two decided to travel the United States taking in sites and scenes that they have never been a part of. From California to the East Coast, they traveled the back roads by way of "Gas Jugging." 

I was unfamiliar with the term of "Gas Jugging," so with curiosity I asked, "What is that?" The woman looked at me and held her hands up as if she were holding a gallon container of milk. She said, "You pull into a gas station and instead of asking for money, which many people do, you hold out this empty milk container. You approach people filling their car up with gas and you ask, would you possibly fill up my container with gas for my camper?" 

"So, what was the most friendly city you guys have visited," I asked? Her husband smiled and said, "Really, all of Tennessee. Everyone was so kind." I did not ask what city or state was the most unfriendly, but they did tell me that they met all types of people while on their journey. "We met young people who train hopped to get across the country, we even met crack heads that we routinely bought dinner for - we had to quit doing that though, it got too expensive," they said in agreement. 

I asked the woman, "When were you given 6 months to live?" Without hesitation her husband beamed with a smile from ear to ear... "3 years ago." 

A talk with God

He was lying on his back in a small downtown Atlanta, GA park when I walked up to him on a sunny Sunday morning. With curiosity I asked, "What are you doing, you look very content?" He continued to smile without looking over at me while I was standing to his left. "I am talking to God," he stated.

Mother Teresa said, "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." This young man at age 27, finds that to be true.

Homelessness appeared to be far from his mind... Thankfulness for life is what I witnessed.

Traveling trash can to trash can

The majority of his day is spent traveling from trash can to trash can in search of food. Even though he is in a bustling tourist area, his food still comes from the trash cans that line lower Broadway in Nashville, TN. 

On this particular day, he found what appeared to be a strawberry daiquiri in a plastic cup, still partially filled. It lasted him the next city block during his walk. 

Helping is as simple as a smile when you can't afford anything else. Mother Teresa once stated, "Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." 

My bicycle holds everything

He was sitting quietly on a bench in downtown Nashville. His life is neatly packed in the bags attached to the rear of his bicycle that lacks working front and rear brakes. A short chain is secured on the handlebars held in place by a master lock that will hold it tight to a tree so that it will not be stolen as darkness falls and he sleeps through the evening. 

Catholic Priest and writer Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen once stated, "The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection." One walk down a crowded city street will open your eyes to see the self-rejection that exists in our society. So many people feel downtrodden or victimized by others when in reality, they dislike themselves. 

Professor Nouwen worked with the mentally handicapped on a daily basis. The Priest also researched the lives of many and knew self-rejection well. Before his death he wrote 39 books and taught at  the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School. 

That was me

"I was just sitting here thinking about my life," he told me. He looked across the street and said, "That used to be me, having fun..."  

Today, Curtis is homeless. He scrapes up $10 per day in order to sleep on someones couch - when he has the $10. On nights that he does not have any money, he goes to a downtown shelter to sleep. 

Shot on a #GoPro