“Is this my problem. Is this my fault?…”~Paul Simon

This is my friend Jackie.  I was close to her live-in husband, Bro. Ted.  You may remember Ted? I blogged about him.  He was a recovering crack addict that loved Jesus and could quote whole chapters if not books of the Bible.  God blessed him with a photographic memory.  He blessed God by sharing what he remembered, even when he was not mentally balanced like you and I.

I had last seen Jackie sitting on her porch, smoking a cigarette.  She was smiling at Ted as he showed me the “eagle dance”.  He was proudly strutting up and down the sidewalk in front of their house, just having a ball.  He was having fun, it made me wonder what was so special about be sane.

I ran across Jackie at church last night.   Ted was not with her.  Ted had been placed in a mental health hospital.  Without Ted, his life mate could not afford the house they shared.  She was told to leave.  She got her purse and wheeled herself off the property.  After-all, it is the right thing to do.

Jackie is homeless.  She didn’t want it that way.  She never planned it.  It just happened.  She was asked, “Where are you going to spend the night, tonight?”  She suggested the bus stop would be fine.

My friend loaded her in my car and we drove her to the lighted bus stop in a very bad part of town.  She said it was safe there.  The police patrolled by there often.  In the short time I dropped Jackie off at the bus stop, the police sirens never stopped.  It is true.  The police drove by often.

My friend will see if there is a shelter that will take Jackie in and provide for her needs.  Jackie never planned for life to work out this way.   But for many too many nights prior, Jackie has found herself sleeping on the streets….

I said hey, is this my problem? Is this my fault? If that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m going to call the whole thing to a halt ” — Paul Simon