Space, Bleach, and a Snickers Bar

                Rushing home from school to do a load of laundry before work, I stopped at Kroger, my once go too grocery store, located on Montrose near Westheimer.  Moving back to Sugar Land a few months ago, it felt good to be on my old stomping grounds once again.  I figured I would run in real quick, get some bleach for my work shirt, grab a snickers bar I had been craving, and be on my way.  As I was walking towards the door, a boy, who was sitting on the left side of the store next to the street caught my eye.  Other than appearing a bit worn down, he looked like a perfectly normal teenager, but I could sense that something wasn’t right.  Although I wasn’t sure he was homeless, something inside me told me I should go over to him and say hi.  He was looking at me kind of strange as I slowly walked towards him.  A few days prior I had a knee injury causing me to wear a chunky brace, so when I say slowly, it’s no exaggeration.  We made eye contact during my long journey over, and he immediately looked away.  I was still able to see the side of his head however, and noticed he had a huge smile on his face and was trying his hardest to control his laughter.  Not sure if he was laughing at my newly acquired “walk”, I continued towards him.  When I finally made it, I introduced myself and attempted small talk.  He was very quiet, and I think a little embarrassed I had caught him laughing at my injury.  The only thing I could think to do was to tell him the story of how my attempt to be graceful had failed me once again, causing me to slip in the kitchen at work and dislocate my knee.  I reenacted the fall in the midst of my story and had him laughing out loud by the time I was finished.  The laugh we shared together broke the ice, so I took a seat in the grass next to him. 

His name is Nathan, and he just celebrated his seventeenth birthday.  We talked for a while. When I say we, I mean mostly Nathan.  He told me all about his love for astronomy and pretty much anything space related.   In the midst of his stories, I remembered that directly behind the Kroger is a homeless shelter, the Star of Hope Mission, in which provides temporary housing and food for underage children living on the streets.  Putting two and two together, I concluded the Star of Hope was Nathans current, but temporary, address.  Not wanting to be blunt and ask, I decided to inquire about school.  He said he dropped out of high school last year when he moved out of his mom’s house.  Considering he had just turned seventeen, I was a little taken back when I realized he moved away from home at fifteen.  When I asked him about his father, he abruptly said his mother was the only family he has ever known.    The happy and care-free Nathan I had known up to this point had now turned into someone completely different.  Earlier in our conversation while he was explaining black holes, I was able to feel his positive and happy energy.  Now all I could feel was sadness, along with a huge pit in my stomach.  He softly told me that he lives “around the neighborhood”. 

Determined to keep our conversation in good spirits, I had to make a quick decision.  I know the purpose of this blog is to try and figure out how and why people end up on the streets, but something about Nathan told me to stay away from any conversations of the sorts.   Looking into his eyes, I could see his heartache and could tell he lives in a harsh world, which I will never understand.  That’s why I decided to simply be his friend.  I figure with everything he is forced to deal with on a daily basis, the last thing he wants to do is talk about it to a stranger.  So instead of my usual questions, the questions he thought I was going to ask, I asked him if he wanted to help me with my grocery shopping.  I told him he would be doing me a great favor due to the fact I had a bum knee.   I could see a look of relief on his face as I stayed away from his personal life and asked just for his company.  He agreed to help, stood up, and lent me his left hand to ease my way up off the grass. 

We spent over an hour in the grocery store.  We talked about random, unimportant things, and spent the majority of our time laughing.  It made me happy to walk around the isles of Kroger with Nathan, and he seemed to be pretty happy as well.  He helped me to my car, and even opened the door for me.  I said goodbye and told him I hope to see him again soon. As I looked in the rear view mirror watching him walk away, I realized the huge smile on my face.  I don’t think Nathan has many people in his life he can count on.  I think he simply just needed a friend. 

As I rushed home I realized I had no time to wash my work uniform.  It’s amazing how quickly time passes in good company.  Sure, I had to work that evening with a large merlot stain on my sleeve, but it somehow didn’t seem so important.  From Nathan, I learned the importance of being kind to others, despite their status in society.  Nathan faces many hard challenges on a daily basis that most can’t even fathom, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend the afternoon discussing them.  I am grateful I was able to get to know him and take his mind off his everyday problems, even if it was only for a few hours.  A simple smile or hello goes a long way, and that, is something I hope to never forget.