The Two Guys I Will Never Forget
It’s funny how things stick in your mind
I left the homeless shelters in Minneapolis four years ago. I have come a long way since then. My life is so much better now, and I try hard to forget my time of homelessness.
Kindness not Forgotten
The bad memories still linger, but some good memories have stuck with me. I wonder if the two men who were kind to me remember me at all. I doubt it. It was seven years ago when these incidents occurred.
A Cold Morning before Sunrise
The shelter would roust us from our bunks and give us coffee and oatmeal or grits. Then they would throw us out into the street before sun-up. One morning, I was standing outside in the cold when a man in his thirties pulled up in his car and offered to buy me coffee. The old Lawson would have told him to piss off.”
He tried to convert me
“Sure,” I answered. I got in the car and we went to a Diner and had coffee. While we drank, the guy tried to convert me to Catholicism. I’m a Southern Baptist from Texas, so I found it funny. We drank our coffee and talked, and when we finished, he dropped me off at the library.
I was caught by surprise
The other incident happened two years later. Olivia, the woman I met online, had sent me money to get a haircut. The hair-cutter and I were talking. I told her the complete story of how and why I was homeless.
I didn’t thank him
There was another customer in the chair next to mine getting a haircut. I barely noticed him. I wouldn’t know the guy if he walked into the room. After I got the haircut, I went to the counter to pay. “Someone paid for it for you.” The haircutter said. I was surprised and grateful. It lifted my spirits, and I had a little money to do something else that I otherwise wouldn’t have had.
Kindness has a ripple effect
The kindness these two men showed me still lingers. I have looked for a way to pay it forward since I left Minneapolis. I know that someday I will impact someone’s life The way these two men influenced mine. So, look for opportunities to be kind. You never know how that simple act will impact the one you are kind to.