The Streets Are Lonely Now…

I received the news last Friday morning. I was in a daze when I heard those words… those words I wasn’t expecting. I knew he had been sick… back in the hospital. I wasn’t told that it was anything serious… I wasn’t told that he could possibly die. I wasn’t told… and yet… I never asked.

We walked into the funeral home on Monday. I wasn’t expecting too many people to show up… let’s face it… not to many people showed him respect in his lifetime. I had Little Willy by one hand and my loving husband by the other… I held on to their hands so tight. We walked through the double doors to the area where his body was kept in a cold dark box. My heart sunk… my heart pounded… my eyes filled with tears… my hands sweating… my lips trembling. There were 5 other people in the room. Two of the men were with the funeral home. Two men were men I had met a time or two before in his living complex… and the other was the clergy man.

We made my way to the casket. It was so hard.

All I could think about was the day I first spoke to my dear friend and I almost lost it… I almost broke down.

I picked Little Willy up and turned to walk away from the casket. Little Willy put his fingers to his lips and so innocently whispered “Shhhhh…. he’s sleeping.”

I sat in one of the red padded chairs in the room, about 10 feet from the casket. My loving husband sat on one side of me and I sat Little Willy on the other side of me. I pulled out of his diaper bag his favorite toy and some fruit chews, hoping that would keep him occupied.

While sitting there more people started to arrive. Some I knew, some I did not. I was confused. I was confused because the people I knew… the people that were there to show their respects… were never around when he was a live. At least I never saw them.

There was a well known attorney, several local store owners, some every day Joe’s, several lost souls… all there paying their respect… paying their respect to a man that most of them never got to know… most ran away from… and now… now they show up??? I just didn’t understand.

I knew the attorney, Henry; very well… he is a friend of my husband’s family. He saw us and came over and sat in the row in front of us. He turned around and started making small talk. I obviously wasn’t paying that much attention to what he was saying… I really don’t remember anything he was talking about. I rudely interrupted him and bitterly asked him “How did you know my friend?”

A little startled he replied “About 15 years ago, when I started my practice, he made a daily stop outside my office every afternoon. He would sit outside on the bench with a Coke and peanuts and shoot the shit with himself. He was always carrying on a conversation with himself. Several times I saw him whittling. I made the comment to him one day that my grandfather use to whittle wooden owls for me and my brother when we were kids. I thought he didn’t hear me… he never acknowledged my presence when I was talking to him. So, I went about my business. The next day, my secretary brought me a gift. She stated that the old man that was always outside had come in and left it for me. It was a wooden owl that he had whittled. I never forgot that day… I never forgot that feeling… that moment. I still have the owl. I continued my conversation with him day after day… always talking to myself. Although, I know that he was listening even if he didn’t respond.”

I was in tears.

One of the clothing store owners in town came and sat by Henry. He stated to Henry that we have lost a legend. I asked what he meant by a legend. He stated, “This man is a man that everyone knew. If you mentioned his name… everyone knew him. Young and Old… He walked the streets for years.”

He was right. He was a legend. I knew him when I was a child as the scary man who walked and talked to himself around our town square. My mother always jerked me away from him if he were to walk by. People would turn and walk away if he came near. He was a legend that nobody seemed to get to know to well… he was a legend that people were scared of… he was a legend that I fortunately as an adult got to know and love.

This is the final chapter of my Eugene stories. My friend has gone on to a better place… to his land far, far, away. He left behind a friendship that I will never forget. He touched my life in so many great ways.

I leave you with…

I was walking home from school on a cold winter’s day
Took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way
It was getting late and I was scared and alone
Then a kind old man took my hand and led me home
Mama couldn’t see him, but he was standing there
But I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

When life dealt troubled times and had me down on my knees
There’s always been someone there to come along and comfort me
A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand
A phone call from a friend just to say I understand
Ain’t it kind of funny at the dark end of the road
Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

They wear so many faces
Show up in the strangest places
Grace us with their mercy
In our time of need

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

Another angel has received his wings….