January 6, 2014
In the spring our sweet cat, Pickle, had to have surgery. I took her to the vet in a blanket that would smell like home. It stayed with her at the office and when I picked her up the blanket went to the back seat of my car and stayed there. She's now healthy and happy, but I didn't want the blanket coming back in to the house. It was clean, but I figured that it probably smelled like the vet's office and would make her uncomfortable.
So it stayed in my back seat for a little while. Then one day I was out grabbing lunch and there was a homeless man near where I had parked. I got his attention and asked if he would like the blanket. He said that he would love it and seemed overwhelmed with happiness. What a small thing to me that became such a great thing for him!
After this experience I knew that I had to find the right homeless person to knit for. I wanted it to be someone with hope and appreciation. Someone that it would really mean a lot to.
In October I decided to get started on knitting a scarf. I doubled the yarn and used two colors: black and grey. I figured this way if it gets dirty it will hardly show, but it will still be very plush and warm. It was a simple knit scarf that I made very long. I felt really good about this.
I put the scarf in the back seat of my car and kept my eyes open for homeless people. I don't live or work downtown or in areas where homeless people frequent, so it took a while. I saw a few occasionally, but I didn't have the scarf with me and wasn't near the car.
Then, on January 6th I was downtown dropping off some things for work. I was going to a few different buildings about four blocks apart, so I decided to park in the middle and walk between them. Walking towards the first building, I noticed a man sitting near a corner. He had a hat out, asking for money and he was smiling at people, especially the women that he liked. Something about him struck me right away. I walked past him again, on my way to the other building. He smiled at me and I knew that he was the right person.
After I finished the drop offs, I went to my car to get the scarf and walked back to where he was sitting. As I approached, he smiled at me again.
A few months ago, I read an article that was written by a formerly homeless person. He said that the thing he had missed the most was hearing his name spoken by other people. He said that being homeless basically makes you anonymous and he would go for weeks if not months without hearing his name from someone else. How heartbreaking! I wanted to do that for the person I was about to meet.
After saying hi, I knelt down, told him my name and asked for his. It was Eugene. So I said, "I made this for you, Eugene." and I handed him the scarf.
He was blown away. He said I was the first person to ever make something for him. He said he loved the colors and he put it on instantly, wrapping it around his neck a few times. Eugene was definitely the right person for me to knit for! I asked if I could take his picture and as I was getting my camera ready, I said, "You must have been cold yesterday." (it was -20C the day before). Luckily, he had been indoors most of the day.
He told me that he had sprained his ankle three days earlier and had gone to the hospital. He was on the ctrain and slipped on the platform. He said that no one helped him or pressed the emergency button. A few days later the hospital asked him to come back in because they thought he might have a fracture. Luckily, he didn't, but he was still pretty sore. He told me that the worst part about it all was that he had been lying on the ground in so much pain that he was crying and no one cared. No one stopped to help a man who obviously needed it. But then he looked at me and said, "Now I know that's not true. Now I know someone cares about me."
I gave him $20 as well, which he thanked me for and put into his hat. Right away, he went back to touching and admiring the scarf. I know the money was very helpful for him and he was appreciative of it, but he was overjoyed with the scarf. He was so happy and I was so touched.
We chatted for a few more minutes but then it was time for me to get going.
When I was leaving, I said, "Things are going to turn around for you. You can do anything and I know this is going to be a great year for you." He beamed at me and I beamed back at him. I told him that it was really nice to meet him and used his name again. He said, "it was really nice to meet you too, Lindsay."
What an amazing experience! Eugene was such a gentle man and I really hope great things happen for him! Maybe some day our paths will cross again, but in a completely different situation.
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