A couple of friends

D and C had an apartment down on Alcatraz. A great big apartment and they always had a bunch of people staying with them. C was raising her grandson - he was just a baby at the time I met them. I came over to their place with someone that was crashing there and just fell in love with the baby. C was a great friend to me and her husband D really treated me like a sister or something like that.

C worked in a halfway house - she was recovering from an addiction and D was still using. I'd hang out there for days on end, cause they let me have all the time with the baby that I wanted/needed.

They treated me like family. When I showed up, they welcomed me in - when I took off, they did not take offense.

It was at their apartment that I got the big scar on my hand - but that's a story for another day.

I found out recently that D has died of Hep C and that C just had her second mastectomy. The baby is grown - he must be 15 or 16 now.

Other homeless women

I read the most amazing blog from beginning to end the other day. It's an account of a homeless woman in England living in her car

http://wanderingscribe.blogspot.com/


I was interested in a lot of her comments about other homeless and the lengths she went to in avoiding being regarded as they were.

It stirred up a lot of emotions for me, but I am not sure I know how to put them into words here.

Pumpkin pie for breakfast

Thanksgiving is a day like all the rest... Usually the meal being served at the Berkeley Emergency Food Project has turkey, mashed potatoes etc..... But pumpkin pie was hard to come by when I was living on the street.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving in the Before Times was Friday morning breakfast of pumpkin pie. Leftover pumpkin pie was planned for and never went to waste.

So there I was, People's Park the Friday after Thanksgiving, grieving the lack of pie. I walked down on the avenue to get a cup of coffee and P was just waking up from her place in front of Cody's books. I told her of my craving and what does she pull out from her stuff, but almost 3/4 of a pumpkin pie that someone had given her the night before.

I went and got coffee for both of us and we had pie for breakfast after all.

Life was good that day.