I have a soft spot for different kinds of people, but today I've been thinking a lot about my homeless peeps. It is really freakin cold out there.
I also have been filled with a lot of gratitude for the folks who, during the times I had no where to go, took me in.
The thing is, as I look back on my life (as this is my birthday month, I seem to be rather reflective) I can think of several times I did not have a place to live, and but for people who cared for me, I would have been homeless.
In high school when my mom would flake out, I knew I could show up on the doorsteps of my friends, and their parents would take me in, feed me, and make sure I got to school.
In college when a summer job fell through, I showed up at a friend's apartment with a duffle bag holding everything I owned (quite literally $5 to my name) and my sweet dog, Susie, and we all lived there rent-free for a few months. (Turned out, the place had been condemned so the LL couldn't collect rent for it, and rather than find a safer place, we rejoiced in saving money! Crazy kids.)
After law school, living with my dear aunt and uncle in Houston, and then with my friend Tracy and her then-husband, until I got a full time job and on my feet.
After the dreadful convent experience, moving back in with my dad until I could get my head on straight to hold down a job.
In each of these times if someone hadn't been moved to pity, saying, "This is your place until you get it together" my alternative would have been a homeless shelter.
Admittedly, it has been a long time since I have been jobless or without resources but I think those experiences are what grew all the soft spots in my heart. I think people know that, so I meet lots of folks who need stuff -sometimes socks, sometimes just a kind smile. And I CAN give that to them.
I'm very comfortable in my life today... my little house is warm and I can buy gifts for my nieces and treat friends to dinner and buy any clothes I need or want at the moment the whim strikes. I went to freakin SPAIN this year! I look around in wonderment sometimes, puzzling how I got to this lovely place when there were so many chances along the way to fall down and stay down.
But LOVE lifts us all up, right? It's LOVE that makes us all hug our friends and family tight and make room for them. It's LOVE that puts the coins in the red kettle, or dishes out the turkey on Thanksgiving, or slips a grungy looking guy a five. It's LOVE that says, "I will stand with you when you are hopeless and in despair and heading in the wrong direction." LOVE says, "I will keep pointing toward the light."
That kind of Love lets the whole world know we aren't alone.
I had some atrocious, crazy a$$ roommates during my senior year of college. Long story short, my friend took me in, while I paid rent at the other place, to avoid any kind of battles. Her dad had been paying for the apartment, but my God, what a life saver she and her father had been. A lot of folks downtown have been asking me where the nearest shelter is; they don't ask for anything, and when I do offer something, they'd rather get a nice warm dinner and a place out of the elements, God love 'em. I have been seeing some of these people for years around here. When it's hot, our security guards kick them off of our property, away from the cool shade of the trees, just as Christ would want us to do! The basilica used to provide a packed lunch and keep the church open during the day, but there were too many problems that arose :/ Anymore, I just feel like it's an issue that does not get much attention...
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