Mary and Keenan
This is Khalil. He was sitting in the warm November sun, taking a break before the lunchtime rush at the club where he works as a cook across the street. He appreciates his job, but he told me he can't feel much with his fingers anymore after handling so many hot pots and pans for so many years. I then asked permission to take his portrait. I suggested he think of someone he loves. "Who'd you think of?" I asked. "My ten-year-old daughter," he replied. "But my whole family is special." His oldest daughter just graduated from McGill University in Montreal where he lives. Although he grew up in NYC and his dad still lives here, Khalil makes the 5-hour drive to Montreal four or five times a month so he can be with his family. "You just do what you gotta do," he told me.
Elaine
Lily
This is George. For the past 40 years he has operated a shoe repair business in downtown Pittsfield, MA. The store is filled from floor to ceiling with dense shelves of shoes, purses, and other items he has collected and made new over time. His is the last shoe repair shop in the city. A series of medical issues over the past few years has left him without the use of his right arm, and he finds it challenging to work a lot of the tools and equipment he has always relied upon. He has been forcing himself to learn to use his left hand only, but progress has been frustratingly slow. And he accepts that no one in his family is willing to take over the shop. “They all have their own lives,” he says. However, George has taken on a new assistant who is willing to learn the trade, an Egyptian immigrant who hopes to perhaps take over the shop one day. He seems pleased. Someone had taken the time to teach him shoe repair 50 years ago in nearby Albany, NY. “It’s been a good life. I’m happy to have someone to share this with. Pittsfield has been a good place to raise a family, and I’m proud of all of them.”
This is Holly (“like Christmas”). She was taking in the setting sun against an orange wall downtown when I asked permission to take her photo. I suggested she think of someone she loves. I then asked her to share who she thought of. She said “God, because he’s kept me here for 94 years.” Although she’s nearly blind, God has moved her to start an university in her home. “He’s told me he’s going to let me live six more years to see the university come to pass,” she said. Before I left she held my arm, leaned in close, and whispered, “There’s always a reason for everything.”
This is River, standing in the hot mid-day sun in Sedona. When I first shook his hand, he was holding a sign that said "Great Investment Me." He was pleased to call me by my name to show that he’s getting his memory back after an accident left him disabled in 2008. He’s been sober all that time. He said he had recently felt a calling to come to Sedona after living in Grand Junction, CO for the past several years. There, he says, he was instrumental in ministering to the homeless and street people, helping establish a program where they could earn "Good Samaritan" dollars from the police, city officials, and business owners who recognized when the homeless were helpful in the community they could receive vouchers for food or services. He believes Sedona is a caring community and he's begun reaching out to local civic and church leaders while making connections within the homeless population here. Before I left he blessed me, telling me the story of Jesus and the Widow’s Mites, which serves as his inspiration to help others. He doesn’t have much, he says, but whatever he gives always comes back to him more. A food truck, closing up for the day, came by. The driver leaned out and handed River three burritos. He said he would eat one and give the others away. He smiled when I told him he was handsome, and he said he had just cut his own hair. “Before this, I looked like Santa, “ he laughed.
Legacy
Zachary
This is Fort Myers Jesus. He was taking a quiet night off, resting on a bench downtown watching passersby, just to see if anyone recognized him. “Are you Jesus?,” I asked. Most Friday evenings he’ll don a flowing white robe and a crown of thorns while standing on a busy street corner in the tourist district. He says his job is “to spread the Word.” He says he’s had his picture taken over 250,000 times but when he’s not dressed up, no one stops unless they know him. I asked him why he does what he does and he says it’s to help others by reminding them of what they may have lost. People often approach him to say how seeing him, or even just his photo shared online, has changed their lives. “People go through life searching, never realizing what’s missing,” he says. “They think they’re getting what they need from society or from watching TV. They don’t call it ‘programming’ for nothing.”
Mother Nature
This is Brandon, working out with his “practice” sign board to get in shape for a new job in California starting in January. He says it’s been 6 months since he picked up the board and although he’s been working as a cook, he considers dancing on the sidewalk with a sign to attract customers into a business to be his primary job. When I showed him his photos, he exclaimed, “Oh wow, you made my day!” He said people often take his picture without stopping to talk, and until now no one had ever shown him the photos. “I’ll be here tomorrow,” he said as we parted. .
Billy Strings, Ossipee Music Festival, Hiram, ME (2018).
This is Sangine. When she saw my camera, she wanted to talk. “Being able to see beauty in the world is everything. You’re either born with it, or there’s some who can learn it, but if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”
With all the news of the world, I needed a reminder that there are Angels on Earth…An impromptu Origami lesson between strangers on the G train. They gave me the heart.
