Sent: 1/8/2004 7:52 PM
I know Kevin from the neighborhood. He rode past me on his bike and saw me smoking a cigarette on my stoop. He stopped to ask if I had an extra. And as I did, he stopped to smoke with me, and we engaged in further conversation. He told me about his kids. He told me how he wanted them. He told me how he sought a job for them. He told me about his wife that kept them from him. He told me what I found hard to believe. Yet he told me what was true to him. He spoke to me. And I heard him. I don't know what lead us to know one another, yet we did. We understood circumstance. We understood the divine. And we stopped to talk about it.
Kevin is unique. He has no judgments towards me, as I impart no judgment on him. We’re living this. We’re doing the best we can at this moment in time. We’re just trying to get Home. We know our boundaries and respect them. We only tread in ignorance. And we forgive.
Tonight, sharing a drink, I looked at pictures of his life. His mother. His father. His sister. His son. His daughter. His wife. Every piece of sincere memory placed before me. Every smile known. Every bowed head recognized. Every moment captured in beauty appreciated. I was honored to look. Funny that he was honored to show.
As he left he spoke to me of time. "T hings I M ust E arn."
If earning means learning, I’m in complete agreement.
