Bruce watched, as the claw finished taking bites out of his belongings and transferring them to the dumpster. He thought about how he lost his house in the first place and had moved to an isolated area with a few other homeless people until that was cleared out and then he had come here. Now there was nowhere to go. Danny walked up to him and asked if he had been at the meeting. Bruce looked up, rubbing the tears out of his eyes. A man had his pride, after all.
Danny told him about the meeting and the solution for homelessness and found one of the posters he had been passing out, folded up in his pocket and handed it to Bruce. Bruce asked, “Is this offer still open? I am pretty interested because I just lost everything.”
Danny said, “Yes, it is and the first of the vans will leave in two days to take people out to the cruise ships. I imagine it operates on a first come first served basis. There is no way they can get everyone out to the ships in one day.” Danny explained the details to Bruce who smiled in appreciation.
Bruce said, “Well having my possessions thrown away in the sweep will make moving easier.”
Danny said, “That says a lot for you that you are able to be positive after losing all of your things.”
Bruce replied, “If there is one thing I have learned, being out on the streets, it is that you can’t give a place to despair, no matter how bad things are. You have to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and keep going!”
The men said good-bye and Danny wished Bruce good luck as he walked off.
Sue walked back to the nursing home where she worked to collect her pay and give notice. Her co-workers and the patients were surprised to hear she was leaving and even more surprised to learn that she had been homeless all of this time. They held an impromptu good-bye party for her, complete with a cake and homemade cards!
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Sue walked back to the motorhome with a heart full of love for her friends. She began sorting through her belongings. She pulled her china down out of the cabinets. It was a pretty blue flowered print that had been a gift from her parents when she got married. She took a picture of it laid out on her table and said a sentimental good-bye.
She looked through all of her family pictures and decided to take them out of the albums they were in and put them in zip lock bags instead. That would fit better in her suitcase. Sue decided to leave her tv, dvds and books. That was a hard saying. She had several favorite movies, but felt she was making the right decision. It was necessary to take her scrubs and other clothing. She sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee that she had picked up from McDavid’s and reflected on the past few days. She was starting over again, resetting, redefining her life.
Sue thought about how beautifully she had decorated her house, with Oriental furniture and paintings and about her home spa that was so relaxing. If she had known where she would be today, would she have spent so much money and time on things that didn’t really matter so much and were all gone out of her life now? What was really important? Where would she be five years from now? She thought, “I can speculate, but who really knows?” After the coffee and taking some down time, Sue went back to sorting and packing.
Bruce, having lost all of his minimal stuff, decided to walk around. He wandered aimlessly and found himself in a different homeless encampment that was buzzing with activity. He saw a young lady who was obviously new to the streets, made clear by her nice clothing, laying on the sidewalk, beside her tent, passed out with vomit all over her hair and clothes. As he neared her, two men grabbed her two suitcases and her designer purse and ran off with them. Bruce yelled at them and gave chase for a block, but his emphysema caused him a coughing fit and he lost them. He thought that day after tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. There was nothing Bruce could offer the lady who had been robbed, so he found the nearest policeman and asked him if he could check on her and he continued his walk.