I'm the luckiest guy in the world

[4Q2u2]

28. Both do very Good Work

Rosie's Place is very essential. The woman only shelters are really needed. The Pine Street Inn can be rough and tumble at times. I worked on the building for almost a year and saw the day to day activities. I used to watch them come out from under the highway to go get lunch and dinner. Some of those days were bitter cold. All of them looked well older than their real age. It is a hard life.

I witness the terrible impact that drugs and alcohol have had on people. I met a lot of the clients and knowing that the mental illness that had a grip so tightly on them that they were probably never going to be cured and this was part of their life cycle. These were some of the frailest and easily picked on. I used to give them clothes that I had to donate, sometime I would steal company shirts out of the General Foreman's truck and give them out. On a few occasions I saw the clothes that I gave to one person was being worn by someone else. I would ask why the other person was wearing their clothes, and every time the person was intimidated or threatened for the items. Well me not being a big fan of bullies, I would inform certain individuals that they had taken things from one of my friends and it needed to be returned. I then would strongly inform them that this was a friend of mine and I would be looking out for them every day. Specially if that person was a brother VET. I would find them a safe place on the job site to sit near me so they did not have to worry about anybody bothering them. At the end of the day I would walk them to the door to get their dinner and bed. In the morning I would find them and make sure they were safe and no one picked on them. Lots came and went, some returned, others I never saw again. Of all the small things I tried to do, I think giving a little peace of mind and a safe place in their lives even for a moment was the best thing I could do.

Life; so beautiful and tragic at times. I hope we start doing a better job of it in this world.