|
After the icy, snowy, bitterly cold late January, all welcomed the sun and warmth that early February brought. Team 1 found many more unhoused friends outside and in the sun. Sadly, though, Team 1 seemed to find more people who were apparently high on drugs or alcohol. This was unusual, as we usually find most people who are sober, working, and trying their best to navigate life without adequate food or shelter.
But for the drug-addled we see, the hard, withering look is always in their faces, in their eyes, light disappearing… yet the persistence of their humanity still shows. Despite their mental and physical states, we still receive smiles and thank you's. The young man who waited patiently for size 32 pants that we couldn't find… we apologized, and he still smiled and said thank you. In one camp infested with garbage and no doubt rats, a small tree beside a tent held a tinsel heart-shaped decoration.
For us, it's these saddest of human hearts we meet week after week. We think of the lost possibility, the smothered gifts each has within; it's the sadness of seeing so many lives whittling away.
| 
