HOLIDAY ANGELS DISGUISED AS HOMELESS
STRANGERS....
I hadn't planned to write to you all again
before the holidays, but this story must be shared.
Yesterday I heard a gentle tapping on my
front door. I went to my take out window and there was an old black man
standing on my porch steps, someone I had never seen before. He needed some
food and cold weather gear, which I was fortunate to have. There was something
special about this old man - I had no idea what it was but I could sense it
strongly. He told me he was a Vietnam vet who had run into some trouble down at
the Lake City VA and came here hoping for better luck. I gave him Bridget
Fitzgerald's card, telling him that she is not a bureaucrat and has worked her
way through bigger kerfluffles than his to get vets into housing.
Then, at some point, he told me that he had
been a blues musician most of his life. He began talking about the gigs he'd
played and he lit up with with such joy and such amazing descriptions of the
concerts, the music, the instruments, the riffs... I literally felt like I was
listening to someone who had walked out of history, like Blind Lemon or Muddy
Waters. Then I remembered that more than ten years ago I found a really nice
harmonica in a box of donations and put it aside, thinking that someone would
come along who wanted it. I told him to wait a minute, I had something he
might want. I showed him that harmonica. I don't think I have ever seen a
bigger smile or more joyful eyes on a human face than his when he reached
through and took that harmonica! It was really something.
I hope I see him again sometime, maybe in a
concert.
Happy happy to one and all!
arupa
