I caught a glimpse of the figure edging down the sidewalk towards me. My wife and I were moving ambulatory aids (walkers, crutches and canes) from our church over to the Longmont Elks Club last summer. The figure was a small man moving painfully slow with a noticeable limp. As he moved tentatively closer to me, I could see he was hunched over in clothes that hadn’t found a day off recently. His face was creased and brown from dirt and too much time not sheltered under roof. Bloodshot eyes glanced up then away from me, either too much drink or crying….probably both. My wife had taken a load into the Elks, we were in a hurry to get the items unloaded and put away. My usual default behavior was kicking in….”don’t make eye contact, maybe he’ll get the hint and move down the street to harass someone else.” He sheepishly mumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t understand but sounded like, “can I have some spare change.” I thought, “ok, here we go…..I give you spare change, you go buy whatever feeds your addiction. I blurted, “don’t have any change,” like I was talking to a mannequin or other inanimate object….and ducked into the Elks with an armful. Coming back out, I noticed he was still there, shuffling towards my wife. This time he pointed at something my wife was carrying and he mumbled the same thing I thought he’d said to me. She stopped, understanding him better, saying “Do you want this cane.” He lowered his chin to his chest and bobbed his head up and down. She handed him the cane. He took it sheepishly, whispered a thank you and moved on. I’ve thought about the “Cane Man” a lot recently. Partly because of the frigid weather and for the way I brushed him off, assuming he was shaking me down for “spare change” instead of a “spare cane” to help with his damaged leg. I wonder what circumstances steered him to being one of the homeless; addiction, mental health issues, poverty, loss of job, the flood, lack of family and friends support…I can only imagine he and and other homeless experienced the joys of life at one time in the past? Precious newborns held tenderly by their mamas, who dreamed of their babes growing up safe and happy with jobs, families, homes…and a purpose in life? Bullet proof teens, on cloud nine because their first love helped them feel everything was right in the world. Married to their “for better or for worse mate” with loving kids in the picture and a job helping build their feelings of self-worth. What happened? When did a bright future turn into a dark day to day? The lines from a Glen Campbell song, “Try a Little Kindness” hit me a few weeks ago when I heard it, they go:

If you see your brother standing by the road – With a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way – Just stop and say “You’re going the wrong way.”
You got to try a little kindness, yes show a little kindness – Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness then you’ll overlook the blindness – Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.

There are a number of Longmont non-profit organizations that are providing life-sustaining support, programs which encourage movement toward self-sufficiency and a candle in the window called ”hope” to the homeless community. Organizations like, HOPE, Agape Family Services – Front Range Christian Fellowship, The Journey, CentraLongmont Presbyterian, Our Center and Inn Between just to name a few. Volunteers and Donations are always welcome. The “Cane Man” experience showed me I was one of those “narrow-minded” people from the Glen Campbell song. Have I turned into Mother Theresa? No, but I’m trying to be more empathetic and understanding of other people’s plight. I almost forgot, the last thing the “Cane Man” said to my wife and me after she had given him the cane as he was limping away was, “God Bless You.” I think he had it reversed, that’s what I should have said to him.