Remembering The Homeless Who Have Passed during 2009
Today is the first day of Winter in America. December 21st is known to have the longest hours of night within its twenty-four hour time frame. It is also the day when people take time to memorialize the homeless people who have died in this nation during 2009.
I may have crossed your path during the day.
Saw you standing or sitting in the midst of the crowd watching others move along to destinations unknown.
We often turn our heads away when you attempt to make eye contact. Your presence is a living reminder of how blessed we are because of what we have in our lives. It is not your physical presence that causes the turn of our heads or the downward casted eyes. It is our personal fears that creates the diversion. That personal inner voice that says-"This could be you." That is a personal fear that we would rather ignore than face.
I don't know when or how you died. Perhaps you experienced the good death that we all imagine that we want to be our end. When you go to sleep and just never wake back up.
Perhaps someone took your life. Ended it before the opportunity presented itself to make things right. You might of even been the lead in story on the news. Or the subject of a column in the local paper. I might have viewed or read your story. Maybe I opted to by pass learning what happened to you. I might have classified you as just another dead stranger that was discovered somewhere within the city limits. Identified you as just another link in a tragic moment that passes through day. Gave no more that a momentary thought about what happened to end your life.
You could be that man or that woman who needed medical attention. Attention that would of saved your life. Treatment that might not have been accessible to you. Or maybe it just arrived too late. No one except the medical personnel will know what happened.
You might have been one of the people who were victimized by the cruelty of nature. In our part of the nation, Winter is harsh and the wind has ice cold talons that cut into flesh. There are times when extreme conditions are life threatening. They are also fierce enough to end life.
I don't know your name. I don't honestly know if I have even had an encounter with you. I have no knowledge of where your final resting place is. Or if the people who knew you are even aware that you have died.
But on this first day of Winter, in the midst of work and preparing for the upcoming Holy Days, I have to stop and take a moment to remember that you were a human being who died on the streets of this nation. I have to remember that you were someones daughter or son, mother or father, sister or brother, their niece or nephew, a cousin or a friend. Your lack of a home does not break those human ties. Your lack of material and creature comforts entangled your life and eventually took you away.
I have to question why we still have not been able to eradicate homelessness in the nation? Why we are not shaken and stirred enough to do all that we can to help individuals and families from being without a place of their own?
On this evening there are people in different communities taking time to pay their respects to you. Remembering that once you were alive and trying to survive through difficult times. There will be speeches and sermons given. Candles will be lit in your honor and your names will be spoken out loud, as a reminder that you too were here on the earth.
You could be that man or that woman who needed medical attention. Attention that would of saved your life. Treatment that might not have been accessible to you. Or maybe it just arrived too late. No one except the medical personnel will know what happened.
You might have been one of the people who were victimized by the cruelty of nature. In our part of the nation, Winter is harsh and the wind has ice cold talons that cut into flesh. There are times when extreme conditions are life threatening. They are also fierce enough to end life.
I don't know your name. I don't honestly know if I have even had an encounter with you. I have no knowledge of where your final resting place is. Or if the people who knew you are even aware that you have died.
But on this first day of Winter, in the midst of work and preparing for the upcoming Holy Days, I have to stop and take a moment to remember that you were a human being who died on the streets of this nation. I have to remember that you were someones daughter or son, mother or father, sister or brother, their niece or nephew, a cousin or a friend. Your lack of a home does not break those human ties. Your lack of material and creature comforts entangled your life and eventually took you away.
I have to question why we still have not been able to eradicate homelessness in the nation? Why we are not shaken and stirred enough to do all that we can to help individuals and families from being without a place of their own?
On this evening there are people in different communities taking time to pay their respects to you. Remembering that once you were alive and trying to survive through difficult times. There will be speeches and sermons given. Candles will be lit in your honor and your names will be spoken out loud, as a reminder that you too were here on the earth.
This time next year-there will be another day of memorial. Different people will be remembered within their respective communities. Candles will be lit, prayers will offered up, speeches to motivate us into action will be given. Names will be read out loud and people will feel that tug on the inside that says, "This situation is one that should never exist."
MBEV is a participating member of Bloggers Unite. You can learn more about the situation of homeless individuals and families by visiting The National Coalition for the Homeless.
Please take a moment to visit Bloggers Unite to learn more about The National Day of Memorial For the Homeless.
4 comments:
A beautiful and heartfelt post. Thank you so much for participating.
You have written a sensitive description of homelessness. It is true that the homeless become 'invisible' while being in full view for all to see. Thank you for writing this.
Great topic! When I lived in Chicago, I was heavily involved with working with the homeless. I used to volunteer with the Salvation Army's mobile feeding unit - passing out food and social services info.
One aspect of homelessness that is often overlooked are the children. I will never forget the face of a little girl that was walking behind a homeless man pulling a shopping cart. She was carrying a dirty baby doll with matted hair... that image has been stuck in my brain for more that 10 years.
But there is so much we can do to help. Even a little bit of kindness goes a long way. If someone is hungry feed them. If they have on worn out shoes, buy them a pair... but to simply walk by and DO nothing - ought to be a crime.
On the last Tuesday of every month, my company sponsors a dinner for the homeless here in Charleston, South Carolina. I gladly go with a few of my co-workers to dish out a healthy filling meal to those in need. At this point on my life, it's actually one of the highlights of my month. Rarely have I felt the personal satisfaction of watching those poor underpriviledged people eat. It always warms my heart to stand there and watch them eat.
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