Sometimes I Write

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a picture of my family. We really don’t take them very often. When we do, Pete usually has his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Little stinker! This one was taken last month when our friends Mark and Katrina were here visiting. This is at Skyline II, a park in downtown Denver. Our kids love playing on the multi-level cement sculptures. Benny had to take a quick look around first to make sure there were no needles or drugs hidden or carelessly left behind by those who come here to shoot up. The only thing found this day was a stash of clothes. So there we were hanging out with our friends and letting the kids climb around when a streetkid we knew saw Benny and approached us. Benny hugged him and introduced him to the rest of us. (We weren’t too terribly far from where some of our street friends buy their drugs, and “Tim” as I’ll call him was on his way there or on his way back…I’m not sure which, though I know he was high when we saw him.) He said he remembered meeting me before. Tim had a friend with him that we think was fairly new to the Denver area. He was really a nice guy. His friend, “Andy” offered us a Tom Clancy book he had just finished and was telling me and Mark how it wasn’t as good as some of the Clancy books he’d read. They were both generous and friendly as we all talked. After a few minutes they left us, but came back about a half hour later when they saw we were still sitting there. I watched Tim give each of my children a dollar bill. He asked Benny if that was o.k., then looked at me, smiled and said “A kid needs some money in his pocket, you know?” I returned his smile and thanked him. My kids were indeed pretty excited to have their own money in their pockets, with the exception of Pete who had his in a death grip in his hand and refused to pocket his new treasure. 😉 Talking to Benny later I told him how surprised I was at Tim’s act of generosity – “I KNOW he could have used that money for a million other things” I said. Benny said he wasn’t surprised at all. “That’s the kind of guy he is Niki – he’s a really nice guy, he’s just also enslaved to his drugs”. Though it felt strange, I was glad I didn’t refuse the opportunity for Tim to give to someone else. I haven’t seen Tim or Andy since that day, but I think of them often. They have so little, yet gave anyway. It was a good lesson for me. I was also reminded to love whenever and wherever we have the opportunity…and there will ALWAYS be opportunities like that.