Making Friends

Last week I did not have very much help from volunteers.  Since most of the schools are still on break we have been low on students looking for class credit and since the holidays are over there are not too many people looking to do volunteer work.  So last week i was on my own with shower duty.  Although Friday morning i had a nice break when Arnold (one of the guests) came in, picked up the shower spray, and told me to put him to work.  He was feeling antsy that morning and just needed something to do.  I was grateful for the help!  It also gave me some time to chat with him.  He has been coming around the center for a while but i have not had a chance to talk with him yet.  While he helped me with showers I asked him about where he is from, his family, work, and such.  He has 14 kids, grand kids, and great grand kids--most of them all over the country.  We talked about how much he likes visiting them.  I asked him why he did not live with any of them and he said that he did not want to have to change his life, he is an independent man and is proud of it, living with family would mean he would have to change the way he lives.  He said he has been in New Orleans all his life, including during Katrina.  I asked him where he was in the city during the storm and he said he was in jail.  He told me about how they were up to their necks in filthy water, locked in their cells, until the guards finally let them up to the second floor.  Then a boat came to take them to the bridge where most of the people left in the city where headed.  He talked about how a lot of the stories we heard on the news about how horribly people were treated when they got to the bridge were true, especially the inmates.  I was so grateful that he wanted to answer my questions and tell me about his experiences.  At first glance Arnold is very intimidating man but i saw a different side to him on Friday.

Today Arnold came up to me to say goodbye... He told Anne and i that he was turning himself in tomorrow for parole violation which will mean he would probably be in jail for about 3 years.  I think outside the Harry Tompson Center Arnold has a hard life and is involved in way more than i will ever know, but at the center he is my friend.  He trusts me and it felt good to know that Anne and I were two people he wanted to say goodbye to before he went back to jail.

Sometimes you don't know who values your friend ship and how much you mean to them :)