Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Homelessness
Homeless Education
On one of the first nights I went on outreach with Street Angels, I tagged along as the driver grabbed two hot dinners and lit out for a heap of blankets under the freeway overpass downtown. It was deep winter and very cold, although… Continue Reading “Homeless Education”
A September Night on Outreach
All I can say tonight is this, that the young pregnant woman I met in July on street outreach is still homeless and still pregnant and still has a partner which is better, I guess, than being fully alone in the woods where no… Continue Reading “A September Night on Outreach”
The Night I Met Jimmie
It was my third night volunteering on the homeless outreach bus. There was light snow, but it wasn’t cold enough for warming rooms to open. This meant that homeless people would be in the woods, under bridges, in alleys. Our job was to find… Continue Reading “The Night I Met Jimmie”
Jimmie
A few days ago, I finished up an essay I wrote about a man I met in the woods one night while on homeless outreach and yesterday he died. He was tall and substantial, a good looking guy with great confidence and bravado but… Continue Reading “Jimmie”
She Was….A Hope Dealer
A year ago, a friend of mine died. We’d been colleagues for a long time. But, for much of that time, we were very wary of each other. I thought she was too sincere for deal-making and she thought I was a conniver. She… Continue Reading “She Was….A Hope Dealer”
You Are My Sunshine
We hold candles and sing You Are My Sunshine and I remember how I sang it for my son’s kindergarten class because it was the only song I remembered the words to, and I think about how the woman who was killed by a… Continue Reading “You Are My Sunshine”
Tell Me Your Story So I Can Make It Mine
If a person hears a storyfrom someone who, say, was just talkingand then tells that story to othersI’m wondering who owns the story If the story is about being afraid, so afraidthat one sits terrified, looking out the windowfor a car that might drive… Continue Reading “Tell Me Your Story So I Can Make It Mine”
Bum Leg Friday Round-Up
My left leg has got me walking like Granny Clampett. I was just sitting on the couch, not hurtin’ nobody, and ouch! like a rubber band got snapped around my knee. It’ll go away, it always does, but in the meantime I’m rocking back… Continue Reading “Bum Leg Friday Round-Up”
Advent 17: Accommodation
Half a loaf is better than none. “Something is better than nothing, even if it is less than one wanted. For example, he had asked for a new trumpet but got a used one – oh well, half a loaf is better than none.… Continue Reading “Advent 17: Accommodation”
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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