Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Homelessness
Say Hey Billy
I saw Billy tonight on homeless outreach. Billy and his friends pulled my older son from his burning car after an accident last year. There were five of us on the Street Angels bus – two women: the driver (the organization’s co-founder) and me,… Continue Reading “Say Hey Billy”
99 New: Tonight’s Lesson
“Never believe the first story. Wait for the second or third.” This was the good lesson from tonight’s homeless outreach with Street Angels and it came from one of Street Angel’s founders, a person who has heard many stories, enough to know to wait… Continue Reading “99 New: Tonight’s Lesson”
Counted
My place of habi- tation is not fit for life so she checked the box _______________________ Photo by Mihály Köles on Unsplash
Humming
Some days the best thing to do is to make hummingbird soup and wait for the guests to arrive. Today, for example, with that bluest sky, cloudless all day, just a slight breeze, sometimes kicking up a bit, but lovely all day, sweetness like… Continue Reading “Humming”
Step Sister
It was hot on the bus. Especially if we were parked waiting for our friends to emerge from under the bridges or the woods where they were living. The wait was never too long since they knew we were coming – Street Angels shows… Continue Reading “Step Sister”
Beached
Oh good, I thought. I’m glad there is something on the playground that’s a little dangerous, a whirligig with netting. It looks new. I could see kids grabbing on all the way to the top and the mightier, muscular ones running and pushing to… Continue Reading “Beached”
Sports Update
I didn’t think he should be playing ball. Not with the big rod and dozens of screws in his pelvis. But he hasn’t listened to me for years, particularly about sports, and he didn’t this time. My son who was so badly injured in… Continue Reading “Sports Update”
By Any Other Name
She slept with her partner on an inflatable mattress that they carried around with them. They had their own blankets, too. When I came to the homeless warming room in the morning, they would always be set up against the wall, same spot every… Continue Reading “By Any Other Name”
Reward
There were four glasses half-filled with water sitting on the half-moon table in the studio like the previous interviewees had to leave in a hurry and no one was around to bus the table. I poured what was left in the water pitcher into… Continue Reading “Reward”
Late Lessons
I think you have to be careful about how bad you feel for someone else because it puts a burden on them that you probably don’t intend. I realized this long after I’d listened to a friend tell me about her daughter’s suicide. At… Continue Reading “Late Lessons”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
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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