Looking into his piercing blue eyes, I could sense a deep pain and sadness. Bill is an older man who sits all day on a street corner near Downtown Houston. His raggedy clothes and sun burnt skin speak for itself, which is why he doesn’t find it necessary to hold a sign asking for food or money. At first, it was hard for Bill to open up to me, which I fully understood. Attempting to break the ice, I told Bill a joke. Throughout my life, I have found humor to be a helpful tool whenever I am in an uncomfortable situation. Bill finally smiled then laughed a little, and told me how I reminded him of his daughter.
He spent most of the afternoon telling me about his family. I quietly listened as he told me about his son’s football practice and his daughter’s 5th birthday party. I could feel his happiness escalate as he was able to tell me such stories. Towards the end of the conversation I asked him if he was still in contact with his family, and he got quiet. He told me he had not seen them in years and felt it was too late for a relationship of any kind to develop. On my way home from meeting Bill, I felt a little down. To see someone like Bill who once had a great relationship with his family and now not even know where they are was very upsetting to me. I guess it's pretty easy to give up in life. Bill is a smart man, very capable of maintaining a job to support himself and his family, however he just gave up and allows life to pass him by. In life, you have to fight for what you want. If you stop fighting, anything can happen. Bill gave me motivation to keep going. The ups and downs in life are never ending. I know my life isn't perfect, and I also know sometimes giving up seems like my only option. Bills honesty enabled me to realize once and for all to stay true to myself, my goals, and my values. Had I never stuck with my idea to start this blog, I may have never learned such a valuable lesson. In my pre-blog life, I allowed my ego to fool me into thinking that I would be the one encouraging homeless people to better their lives. Now I realize just how huge my ego was to ever consider myself wiser than anyone else who walks the same Earth as I. Even if Bill isn't able to help his children, he helped me, and will forever change the way I view the world.
He spent most of the afternoon telling me about his family. I quietly listened as he told me about his son’s football practice and his daughter’s 5th birthday party. I could feel his happiness escalate as he was able to tell me such stories. Towards the end of the conversation I asked him if he was still in contact with his family, and he got quiet. He told me he had not seen them in years and felt it was too late for a relationship of any kind to develop. On my way home from meeting Bill, I felt a little down. To see someone like Bill who once had a great relationship with his family and now not even know where they are was very upsetting to me. I guess it's pretty easy to give up in life. Bill is a smart man, very capable of maintaining a job to support himself and his family, however he just gave up and allows life to pass him by. In life, you have to fight for what you want. If you stop fighting, anything can happen. Bill gave me motivation to keep going. The ups and downs in life are never ending. I know my life isn't perfect, and I also know sometimes giving up seems like my only option. Bills honesty enabled me to realize once and for all to stay true to myself, my goals, and my values. Had I never stuck with my idea to start this blog, I may have never learned such a valuable lesson. In my pre-blog life, I allowed my ego to fool me into thinking that I would be the one encouraging homeless people to better their lives. Now I realize just how huge my ego was to ever consider myself wiser than anyone else who walks the same Earth as I. Even if Bill isn't able to help his children, he helped me, and will forever change the way I view the world.
great post. i enjoyed it a lot.
ReplyDeletei love your honest observations and introspections and again must commend your compasssion for approaching people that most avoid and spending hours talking to them.
i think you wrote this well and i like how you show how his stories changed you, leaving readers to think about how this story might change them.