when i left mcdonalds i went for a walk. yeah...it's cold. but sunday mornings are quiet in this city and it was raining yesterday so i didn't get my walk in. so today i bundled up and headed out for a walk. i kept thinking about that song as i walked along. christmas decorations are popping up across town. it's suppose to snow today. it's beginning to look alot like christmas.
now on sunday there's a church that's open for breakfast every sunday morning. yeah...it's run by the friendship house organization and yes, bill perkins is there every sunday morning. i don't think we'll ever see him in a santa suit though. it's just not going to happen. usually about the time i was walking down market street i pass some homeless people every day. This morning when i walked by them the song came to mind. i wondered what they were dreaming of for christmas. there was santos....he used to be a lawyer before dementia set in and he became lost in a dvd,,, stuck in one section of the movie....repeating itself over and over. i bet he's dreaming of a former life when he stood in courtrooms and argued points of law. today i bet he's dreaming the wheel doesn't fall off his cart that's filled with ...well...i'm not sure quite what it's filled with.
there's bill. he used to be a construction worker until the economy collapsed. i bet he's dreaming of a new pair of boots so his toes and feet don't hurt when it gets as cold as it is this morning. i passed brenda. she used to work as a clerk in a convenience store until her addiction to pain killers caused her to lose her job. i bet she's dreaming of a room or apt. so she doesn't have to sleep on the streets at nite filled with anxiety and fear and shivering from the cold. oh...there's tom. he worked at the g.m. plant until it closed. now he lives in a cardboard box close to shoprite. i bet he's dreaming of a job so he can find housing, restore his dignity, and become,...normal again. i passed jimmy earlier. i know what he's dreaming of this morning....finding some cocaine or heroin. but he's also dreaming of kicking that habit so he can return to being a mason and being proud and self reliant again. i passed one of the boys from the mission program along the way. they're probably dreaming of completing the program they're in, moving forward into some sort of supportive housing and finding employment. i know they're dreaming of never looking back. now william.....he's got a little smaller dream. i think he'd be dreaming of a warm pair of socks and a pair of gloves. he just looks like he's cold and his hands have that sort of red/blue tinge to it that happens when you expose them to the cold for too long.
whatever they're dreaming of, i bet it isn't to remain homeless, on welfare and snap, and sit out in the cold on a sunday morning waiting for someone to open up a church so they can stay warm awhile.
i'm dreaming of ...well.....for some....dreams go alittle differently. whatever your dreams are this christmas....remember the homeless and the dreams they once had and the dreams they have today. but for now....give them a small bit of comfort and let them know they are not alone. your small gift may be the only one they get this year. your small act of kindness may be the only smile they give this christmas. know what.....that warm pair of socks may just be appreciated more than the xbox you're going to buy somebody.
as for me....i'm dreaming too. i'm dreaming that next year i won't be writing about this
see you around town