Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Doorbell

I was in my studio when I heard the doorbell. I came down and it was the young homeless couple standing in the rain with their cat in a carrier. I grabbed an umbrella from the house and held it over them. "We just got thrown out of our friends basement," the young man said.
"He isn't a friend. Friends don't do that," the young woman said.
"He's a work buddy," the man said.
"Did you call Lin?" I asked.
"No. Not yet. It's been crazy," the man said.
"On the weekend we had to go to the hospital for an abscess in his tooth," the woman said.
"And we think our cat might be pregnant."
"Lin's ready to help. I know it's scary to call someone you don't know and ask for help, but she's ready."
"She's just going to tell us...," the man said.
"You don't know what she'll say," I replied.
"You're right," the man admitted.
"How about you call her now and I'll stay right here," I said handing him her phone number. "She's expecting to hear from you. You can say I am phoning from Emily's back door. If you have to stop the call for your next appointment you can tell her 'we may get interrupted'".
The man agreed and made the call. He introduced himself and listened.
"She has a few meetings but she's going to call us back at 2PM," he said.
"You did it, yay," I cheered. "Do you feel better?"
"Yes," he said.
"You broke the ice. Now you can go to your next appointment and you have made contact with Lin. Hang in there. Things can only get better. Trust that the local network of support will come through for you."

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