Sad Day
So one of the bell ringers that I mentioned in my previous blog has become a good friend.
He is homeless, he has his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and and MBA as well.
Lets call him Bob just for his own privacy shall we?
He's well in his 60's and his mind is still quick as a whip. He's had a bad week though. The place where he was storing all his stuff (hiding) had been discovered. This includes, sleeping bag, books, mat, head pillow, extra clothes, etc. So he had to push an overflowing cart from his camp site over to our corps which took a lot out of him. Heavy cart + 2 miles = bad back and fatigue. He was really pale that day.
In order to lighten his load, another lady, Jan, and I helped Bob go through this cart full of stuff. When he came in from bell ringing, he was so grey and could barely talk... so we got some chicken soup in his system and bob was his usual self. As we started to get to work I learnt quite a bit about what is essential. He really values plastic shopping bags as they can become a waterproof cushion when you sleep, a waterproof place to store your stuff, and a porta-potty. Garbage bags are invaluable and a must. Newspapers are also great for keeping you warm and cushoning the ground you sleep on. Anyway, he really did have more than he needed so we managed to whittle things down quite considerably.
The next day, he arrived with another shopping cart which was smaller because he still had to trek 2 miles from his campsite and was still carrying 3 heavy bags. After a full day of bell ringing I fed him eggs, toast and kimchi (which he loves), loaded up the cart (because it was raining and cold) and drove him to his campsite. We had another great chat in the car and he bid me adieu in his posh voice - "Well thank you very much. You really didn't have to drive me all this way but this is most appreciated. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning."
I was worried because it rained hard and the wind blew hard last night.
This morning he did not come to work. Let me just say that thank goodness we are connected well here in Sunnyvale. I went over to Our Daily Bread - a place which provides free meals for everyone MWF - to see Jan because she helps run ODB. I was hoping that maybe Bob was there having a meal and was too sick to come in to work today. She didn't know either but another diner who was around at the time told us what happened to Bob.
It turns out that this morning he collapsed and was short of breath and someone called 911. Aside from that, she wasn't sure and so I called his Pastor - Ron. He's a pastor of a church called New Beginnings and does a lot of outreach ministry to the homeless and weary.
Our friend Bob was rushed to emergency this morning. He has a bad heart which is very clogged and almost required surgery today. He also had hypothermia. They are keeping him in the critical care unit and will be it seems for a while to monitor his heart. I'm thankful that he has somewhere warm to sleep and food to eat at least.
I have nothing that I can do for him but pray and can't help feel nothing but helpless right now. The hospital won't let any of us visit because were not family members. Yet, he is homeless and his family is all in New York - I don't think they really are interested in what's happening over here otherwise maybe something would have been done sooner. I am worried about when he gets out of the hospital - that the hospital system here requires money which he does not have. So will they kick him out when their generosity runs out? Then what? Then what...
So I'm on my knees praying - this request can only be thown up to the Big Guy Himself.
He is homeless, he has his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and and MBA as well.
Lets call him Bob just for his own privacy shall we?
He's well in his 60's and his mind is still quick as a whip. He's had a bad week though. The place where he was storing all his stuff (hiding) had been discovered. This includes, sleeping bag, books, mat, head pillow, extra clothes, etc. So he had to push an overflowing cart from his camp site over to our corps which took a lot out of him. Heavy cart + 2 miles = bad back and fatigue. He was really pale that day.
In order to lighten his load, another lady, Jan, and I helped Bob go through this cart full of stuff. When he came in from bell ringing, he was so grey and could barely talk... so we got some chicken soup in his system and bob was his usual self. As we started to get to work I learnt quite a bit about what is essential. He really values plastic shopping bags as they can become a waterproof cushion when you sleep, a waterproof place to store your stuff, and a porta-potty. Garbage bags are invaluable and a must. Newspapers are also great for keeping you warm and cushoning the ground you sleep on. Anyway, he really did have more than he needed so we managed to whittle things down quite considerably.
The next day, he arrived with another shopping cart which was smaller because he still had to trek 2 miles from his campsite and was still carrying 3 heavy bags. After a full day of bell ringing I fed him eggs, toast and kimchi (which he loves), loaded up the cart (because it was raining and cold) and drove him to his campsite. We had another great chat in the car and he bid me adieu in his posh voice - "Well thank you very much. You really didn't have to drive me all this way but this is most appreciated. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning."
I was worried because it rained hard and the wind blew hard last night.
This morning he did not come to work. Let me just say that thank goodness we are connected well here in Sunnyvale. I went over to Our Daily Bread - a place which provides free meals for everyone MWF - to see Jan because she helps run ODB. I was hoping that maybe Bob was there having a meal and was too sick to come in to work today. She didn't know either but another diner who was around at the time told us what happened to Bob.
It turns out that this morning he collapsed and was short of breath and someone called 911. Aside from that, she wasn't sure and so I called his Pastor - Ron. He's a pastor of a church called New Beginnings and does a lot of outreach ministry to the homeless and weary.
Our friend Bob was rushed to emergency this morning. He has a bad heart which is very clogged and almost required surgery today. He also had hypothermia. They are keeping him in the critical care unit and will be it seems for a while to monitor his heart. I'm thankful that he has somewhere warm to sleep and food to eat at least.
I have nothing that I can do for him but pray and can't help feel nothing but helpless right now. The hospital won't let any of us visit because were not family members. Yet, he is homeless and his family is all in New York - I don't think they really are interested in what's happening over here otherwise maybe something would have been done sooner. I am worried about when he gets out of the hospital - that the hospital system here requires money which he does not have. So will they kick him out when their generosity runs out? Then what? Then what...
So I'm on my knees praying - this request can only be thown up to the Big Guy Himself.
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