Love is FunnyA Story by Thanh
Love is Funny
You can find love in the weirdest place. How many of you ever think that by helping out with the homeless you will find love. You heard me right: finding love in helping the homeless. I’m as surprised as you are right now. I did find love.
I still remember that day as if it just happened yesterday. In the summer of 1990, every Monday evening a group of my friends and I made a different type of food every week and went down to a local park to distribute the food to the homeless. We made a variety from sandwiches to rice and beef stew to feed people who were less fortunate than us.
A few years into our volunteering on one of my typical days as volunteer, we were about to go home for the night when I saw a young woman sitting on a bench by herself to the far left of where our truck was parked. I still cannot understand what happened.
I took a sandwich and a cup of iced tea over to offer her. I then I said, “Hello there! Have you got anything to eat yet?” I was smiling at her and waiting for an answer. Her only response was a silent and her eyes were on my hand holding the sandwich. Again I asked the question and showed the sandwich on my hand. “Would you like something to eat?” There was still no answer but her eyes were still on the sandwich. Finally I gave the food to the mystery woman. She started to eat and then left the park pushing a shopping cart. I started asking everyone if anyone knows who she is, but no one had ever seen her before.
There was something about her that had caught my eye. I hate to say this but it was sure not her outside appearance that caught my eyes, but what did? She had not spoken a word to me. I cannot say it was her personality.
The next day I left work few hours early to go to the park and look for that woman. I sat at the same bench where she was sitting the day before, waiting to see if she would come back. I sat there waiting and hoping to see a lady that I had never seen until yesterday. How could this be? It was not her looks or the way she talked, so what was it?
There was another group at the park to feed the homeless. After few hours waiting for the mystery lady, I decided to head back home. She had not appeared. How could I find this woman? Would I have to be here every day until I found her?
I had never before spent that much time searching for a woman that I did not even know, but there was something different about her that I could not put my hand on.
A few months after that, I saw her again at the same park. While I was getting ready to head home; I saw her walking on the other side of the park. I ran over to her and said, “Hi there! Remember me?”
She smiled at me and continued to walk away. I signaled my friends to wait for me a few minutes and then ran after her. When I got to her I put my hand on her shoulder and said. “Wait a minute. What is your name young lady?” I asked her.
“Huh…. my name is Rose.” She spoke with an accent.
I cannot believe I got excited when this woman spoke to me. And she lived on the street; at least that is what I believed. After all these months, I finally found her and I didn’t know what to say. What’s wrong with me? I just stared at her for a few minutes before the group told me we had to go now, so I walked back to them.
I still cannot believe what happened to me. I had never had any problem speaking to women before. I am a teacher at a local community college, so communication was not my weakness. Plus, I have many friends and colleagues who are female.
On my way back home, I told the group what happened to me this time. Everyone laughed at me. They couldn’t believe what I told them. They all started making fun of me about how I was too shy to talk to her.
Finally Monday came; our group was back at the park to do our part feeding the homeless. This week we decided to feed them Italian food, and my job was to make my famous salad that my family and friends enjoyed. While the group set the table, I was looking around for Rose. I tried to see if I could spot her. This time I determined at least to get to know more than her name.
We had guests waiting for us before we were ready to serve. The food was about gone but there was no Rose at all. I wonder what happened to her. How come she did not come today?
As we were about finished serving, she showed up and sat at the same bench at last time. Again she sat at the table but she was too embarrassed to ask for food. I told one of my buddies, “I will be right back, Tony.”
“Sure, there’s nobody waiting in line. Go ahead I will take care here.”
I then got a plate of food and walked over to her. “Everyone told me that I made the best salad in town, so you must try it.” I said and handed it to her.
She took it and enjoyed the food without saying a word. Then I asked her, “So I guess you like the food, huh?”
She was embarrassed and finally said, “Great food; your salad is great.”
“Wow, this is the first time you said more than your name.”
We both started laughing. I told her to come to the table to get some more food. She smiled at me and walked with me to the table.
From that day on, Rose started to talk with me every time I was there, and after a short time we had become good friends. I learned a lot about her life. As we became friends; she told me the reason she was on the street now. After a long battle with her ex-husband led her into drinking, that lead to losing her job and now she lived on the street.
“So where do you sleep at night now?” I asked.
“On the street, like I said.” Rose answered.
“I know, but where do you sleep on the street?” I continued with the question.
“Wherever I can find a place to sleep but usually at the back of a building.”
“That is too dangerous for a woman.”
“I know, but what can I do?” she asked me
I did not expect her to ask me the question; it took me a few minutes to answer her. “Have you ever tried to find a shelter?”
“You can only stay at the shelter three nights a month; then the rest of the month you have to be out here again”
“Oh, I see.” I answered in a disappointed voice. I was feeling helpless as I tried to figure out what to say next. Then I heard one of the volunteers says said. “We need to go.” I turned around told them, “I’m coming.” I then told Rose that I would see her next week and headed back to the van.
The next couple of days I asked a lot of questions about different shelters around the community to see if anything would be available for Rose to stay more than three nights a month. After research I found out that there are a lot of shelters that do allow you to stay there for a long time but you must follow their rules.
When Monday came I could not wait to tell her a good new, but Rose did not react with the same joy I did. She said she would rather live on the street than in the shelter. I decide to ask Rose more questions. “Why did you prefer to live on the street than in the shelter?”
“I have more freedom than in the shelter.”
“But, it is a lot more dangerous for you as a woman on the street.”
“I know but this way I have my freedom.” She than smiled at me and continued. “You must be at the shelter by 5 to 5:30pm and be out of there by 5 in the morning.”
I talked with several directors from different shelters and found out that anyone who wants to be a part of the shelter must be willing to follow all the strict rules that they have. Each shelter has it own rules on how they accept you. For example, there was a program for people already holding a job but still living on the street because they can not afford to rent a room. This program they will allow you to live there, and in the morning you go to work. With this program they will help you save money for you to rent an apartment to live. They also help you to overcome the problems that put you on the street the first place, like using drugs, alcohol, or any other problem you might have. There were also a few shelters that were willing to help you without requiring you to have a job, and by the end of their program you would be able hold a job and could afford to get your own place.
The next couple of days I still did not understand Rose and her reaction to my good news. I understood her concern about her freedom to do what ever she wanted but with the places that will help her get back her feet, she would have her own freedom back again.
The whole week, the only thing I could think about was how to convince Rose to live in one of the shelters and be a part of their program so one day her life could be back to normal. Even now at I sit here writing about this, I have to laugh at myself. What on earth that makes me want to help this woman I had never before met in my life? I don’t think it was love at first sight because there was nothing about her that would make me fall in love with her. The only thing I can think of is that fate was leading us to be together.
Finally, it was Monday and I was at the park again. This time I was helping Rose more than helping to feed the homeless as did every other time I was out here. Let me rephrase this: I was helping Rose while everyone else was feeding the homeless. I was still trying to convince Rose to try a new life at the shelter. We must have talked for a few minutes before I decided to change the topic to why she does not want a chance to live a normal life.
I still don’t understand why it was so important for me to see Rose live a different life than to be homeless. Again what about her made me do this? If you look at her now, there nothing about her that would make me or anyone interested in her at first. Please don’t get me wrong I do not normally judge people by what they look like, but, I have to find out what about she makes me take so much interest in her life and be willing to help her. The next few months I decided not to mention anything about shelters again. I just wanted to find out more about her. She started telling me about her life, about what led her to this unfortunate life style.
She started by telling to me that about five years ago Rose and her husband had a problem at home. One day Rose found out that he was having an affair and that he was going to leave her for another woman. She told me, “During our seven years of marriage; I never once paid attention to our finances. All the money that I earned me always gave to him.”
“So what happened when you got divorce?” I finally asked the question.
She began to cry. “I guess he was planning to divorce me soon, because by the time we were divorced most of our money had been transfer to his private account.”
“So did you get anything at all?”
“Not much.”
I tried to ask her more to see how much she got from the divorce, but she did not want to review that information. I continue the conversation, “What happened next?”
“After my divorce, I had all kinds of bad luck.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because of what was going on at that time, I got depressed and started drinking, every day when I came to an empty home. Then I felt sorry for myself and I started drinking, first one drink, and then later the whole bottle.” Rose continued to tell me that her drinking started affect everything else that she did.
“What do you mean by that?” I said.
“I mean that, I started show up late for work and before long I lost my job.” By this time she was crying. She told me how hard was for her to get another job.
“Is that why you began to live on the street?”
“Yes, I cannot afford to pay rent yet.”
I handed her a napkin so she could wipe the tears from her eyes. At this time my group called me to head back home, and I asked her. “Where are you going to sleep tonight?”
She then pointed over to the other side of the park. “Behind that building over there is a corner.”
I turned around and told my group to wait for me a few more minutes. I walked her over to her so called home for the night. When we got behind an abandoned building, I could not believe my eyes. There were several other young men and women talking and some were sleeping inside sleeping bags. I asked her. “Is this where you sleep every night?”
“It all depends on the cop and also where I am. If the cop does not arrest me for sleeping on the street and if you are too far from here.”
I then said good bye to her and headed back to my group. I cannot believe what I had learned from Rose. I now have even more compassion for her. She had gone though so much at a young age. I became even more attracted to her; not by her appearance but by the spirit in her. I guess that somehow I felt it the beginning; the spirit of fighting to survive one day at a time.
From that day on, I was at the park almost every night to talk with her. She had told me almost everything about her life. She told me about how a lot of the time, she looks though the trash for food.
Rose and I become great friend in a short time. She told me things that she had not told anyone before. Now I am more eager to help her to get back to the life style that she used to have before, but go to the shelter was not one of them. I cannot believe what I did. I offered Rose a place to live. You heard it right; I offered Rose a room in my house to live in while she gets her life back. I don’t know what I was thinking when I make that offer to her.
The funny thing is that she was more realistic than I was. She said. “I don’t think that is a good idea for you.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t know anything about me. Why are you doing this?”
“I know enough about you to offer you a place to live.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“After listening to you for the last few weeks; I feel that you need a chance to get yourself out of this life style.”
“Thank you! But I still don’t know what to say?”
“You don’t need to say anything; just move in.” I smile at her and then continue. “But you must follow my rules?”
“What kind of rule?” She asked with a confused face.
“You can stay at the house but you must go to Alcohol Anonymous.”
“Alcohol? I don’t have problem with that? Why?”
“I will help you get back your life by get a job or going back to school, but before that you must prove to me that you no longer have a problem with alcohol.”
“But I don’t have a problem.”
“Maybe you don’t have a problem but I want to be sure before I can help you.” I then took the bottle of liquor out of her shopping cart, and showed to her.
“I don’t understand.”
“Alcohol is a dangerous weapon; if you remember alcohol is the reason that you are living on the street.” I put my arm around her shoulder and continued. “There something about you that make me wants to help you from the beginning.”
“Ok, I will go to AA.” She then smiled at me.
This is the first time I ever saw Rose smile. There were several bags that were in the shopping cart. I then ask her. “What are in these bags?”
“These are few of my personal items I need to keep.”
By the time we were at my place; I walk Rose into her new room and smiled at her. “This is your room; decorate it how ever you want.” Then I smiled at her.
She smile at me and said, “I love it like this. Thank you.”
“Get your self cleaned up and come out to the dining room; I’ll make some dinner for both of us.”
As Rose entered the dining room to join me for dinner; I could not believe my eyes. She was beautiful, even though she was still wearing the same outfit as before. My eyes could not get away from her long beautiful hair. “Wow, now I can see your face. How beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She was embarrassed by my compliment.
I was making us some sandwiches and we continued to talk until it was time for me to call it a night. I still cannot believe what I had just done. What was I thinking? Something about her had attracted me.
I decided to take couple days off work to help Rose adjust a new life. I also took her to start in her program with Alcohol Anonymous. We found a local group that meets close to my house, and Rose could walk to the meeting. Alcoholics Anonymous is a program where men and women meet in their local area help themselves to over come drinking.
I still remember the first night I took Rose to the meeting. The group meets close to my house in a local community room. The meet was to start at 8pm. I still remember walking into that room for the first time. There must be around twenty people already there waiting for the meeting to start. Everyone was friendly; even though they did not come over to start a conversation with us but in every corner of the room there was a group together talking.
When 8 p.m. came everyone was sitting around the long table and waiting for instructions. A young lady began the meeting by welcoming everyone. She was introduced herself as “Mary who will lead the discussion tonight.” After that everyone introduce themselves and told everyone that either they were an alcoholic or just a visitor for the night. A few of the people read different chapters in the book of Alcohol Anonymous (AA) and also they read aloud the twelve-step program that you must follow if you are in AA. Each person shared about their day; whether they were overcome by their habit or not.
One of the main reasons why the program is successful is because the program is base on the power of God; the program believes that without the power of God we cannot over come our drinking. The program believes that as individuals we are powerless over alcohol.
After three month Rose had not touched a drink and I decided to take Rose out to her favor Mexican food to celebrate; it was a great night for both of us. “Congratulations, dear I am proud of you.”
“Thank you dear, I could not do it without you.” She held my hand for the first time and continued. “I till would be on the street right now, if you were not helping me.”
“I’ll honest with you now. It was faith.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was faith that led me to walk over to you that night. We were about to clean up and head home when I saw you from the other of the park.”
"Really?”
“That is when I walked over to you with the sandwich. You never said anything that night.”
“I’m sorry about that. That was the first time I was at the park; I was scared.”
“First time?” I was surprised at her answer.
“Yes, that night was the first I was ever at the park; you normally would find me at almost every other park.” She took a sip out of her glass of water and then continued. “I just got out of jail that morning; you know the county jail was few minutes from the park.”
“Jail?” I asked with a surprise.
“Yes, jail, I was arrested for sleeping on the street; you know every time people complain to the police about us sleeping on their property, a cop comes out give us ticket.” She looked at me, and then continued, “I must have a few of those tickets that I never paid. The last time I got a ticket. They arrest me for not paying all those tickets.”
“Well, it must be faith had led us together.”
“I believe that; how can you explain that?” she said as she leaned over to give me kiss.
Love is funny; how can you explain the whole thing? Love come when you least expect it. While I helped, Rose overcame her drinking problem, and I fell in love with her. How can this be? How can helping someone overcome their problem make that person into the love of my life? Rose and I have been together since that night; she is now a registered nurse at a local hospital. After another year Rose and I are getting married. We have been together over ten years.
© 2008 ThanhReviews
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6 Reviews  Last Updated on February 27, 2008 Author
Thanhwestmister, CAAboutThese are some of fictional stories i had wrote in the last few years. I hope you like it. there are few minor errors in these stories. I need a feed back from you. These stories will be put together.. more..Writing
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