Gerrard

Today I ran into Gerrard (a.k.a. Gerry) at the subway station. As soon
as he saw me, his whole face lit up in a big smile. It had been
several months since we'd seen each other, because I finished
university back in the spring.

In my two year masters program at U of T, I saw Gerry almost every
morning outside of my school building. He was (and is) the friendliest
panhandler I know. Sometimes I gave him a toonie, once I paid for his
antibiotics, but usually I just listened to him (it actually shocked
me that more of my fellow *social work* students did not talk to
Gerry, but this is not meant to be a judgmental blog!)

Gerry has stories that would break your heart. And yet every day he
would smile at me and say that there was a reason God was giving him
another day. And he kept going. He never seemed bitter about the fact
that he lived on the street while others complained about mortgages or
that he had survived so many challenges in life. He just has faith -
the kind of faith I really admire, because it sees hardship and sorrow
and yet still chooses joy.

I met another homeless man at the streetcar stop today. He was sharing
his life with me, and I said, "yeah, life is hard." He said, "well,
you just have to keep going." Don't you love when you find wisdom in
unexpected places?