Friends without Homes.

I am not a morning person, waking up even before ten basically kills me. The thought of waking up at 6:00am is hysterical. I never imagined there could be something that would make me eager to wake up at that time, but there was. I look forward to the mornings where I get to wake up bright and early to go and hang out with our friends without homes.

I wish I could explain to you the feelings inside of me as we pull into the civic center, our friends gathered around eagerly waiting for a nice cup of hot coffee and some pastries. The joy that fills their faces as they get that small token, it’s funny to me because for most people coffee in the morning is such a routine thing that often people don’t stop to think how lucky they are for the little things, like a cup of coffee.

As our friends gather their goods they spread out to their usual places. You will find Rory and Jesse sitting along the wall with the radio playing, Kevin is usually wandering around, you will see both new and old faces; there are two familiar faces that I look most forward to seeing each week. Saoul and Ualdo, my Spanish friends! Saoul cracks me up because each time I see him he goes off speaking Spanish to me, trying to have full out conversations when he knows very well that I do not know Spanish at all! Ualdo steps in as the translator, and together they try and teach me Spanish. They are great fun and they have this way of making me smile, despite the early morning. I remember I hadn’t seen them in a few weeks and when I finally got to I asked them to tell me something new and exciting that had been happening in their lives! The first thing they said was that I had come to see them that day. This simple remark goes to show that I may make a bigger impact on them than I think, they impact me so much and maybe it is a mutual thing.

I can only hope that I affect them like they do me. It gives me a warm feeling to know that the simplest of things make these people happy, a cup of coffee, a pastry, a person to listen to them talk. I am very aware that people have a way of coming into your life, and leaving a mark. These men are perfect examples of that, they have come into my life, and they have left their mark, and although they might not remember me forever, I will never forget them. They will forever be my amigos!