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We All Have a Story

Taken from Coach’s Corner Newsletter,
January 2007 edition

Some of you readers may remember me telling of my husband's Bill and my Christmas Morning Adventures. And for those of you new to this newsletter, because we are empty Nester's, we get up early and drive to Vancouver early each year on Christmas Day to meet the homeless and give them a bag lunch.

This year's drive in was particularly nice- no rain ! As we rolled in under the Burrard Bridge for our first stop, our day began finding a fellow still sleeping under his damp blankets. Asleep or not, we wish them a Merry Christmas, and tuck the bag near them and move on. The next place we like to hit is the Men's at the Beach House on beautiful English Bay. Always good for a few guys huddled in where it's warm. I load Bill ( this is his territory !) up with several bags as he heads in and passes out lunches. As I waited, I saw a fellow who's eyes were wide as he detected I had the rest of the lunches with me. He smiled, and I asked him if he had eaten yet today? "no" he said.
"well, I said, here's your first meal today then- Merry Christmas !" He could not believe it. Aha- I thought, he's either a rooky or a newbee to town.

I love engaging in conversation with the guys, so I asked him if he was new here, we didn't see him before. "you come here a lot" he asked? Every Christmas, I said.
Turns out, Kevin was his name, about 30 I'd say. He rolled in the night before, and had his first night sleeping beside the Ocean. He had always wanted to do that! Today he said thank you to God for this opportunity. Imagine that?
Recently from up country, the Nelson area, he felt creative again, and energized to come and look for work. He told me that he used to work in Toronto, in the fashion and advertising world. Drugs and drinking had prompted this life without a home. It had gone from bad to worse as he drifted across the country. Living in Nelson, he was featured in a newspaper article they did on the Homeless in their community. He was eager to show me the clipping he still carried with him. Written from a perspective of what can be done to eliminate homelessness -not slamming them. He was on the front page of the paper with his picture! He said that changed everything-now he felt he was worthy for more, and validated as a human again. This is where he began to feel creative again.

Somehow he got to Vancouver, and somehow we ended up talking. Actually, I don't believe in coincidences. It was the Law of Attraction in action again. I had asked to be taken to at least one person that day who needed to hear something important to them. Could it be Kevin?
God only knows, and I'm ok with that !
He cracked me up when he asked if the lunch was Vegetarian? "No" I said, sorry. "could I trade the ham sandwich for another mandarin orange?"
Sure.
It's Christmas. I gave him a hug and truly wished him well. I encouraged him to use his creativity. It is his Gift to share.

Next, we got back in the car, to hit the alleys. Where there are dumpsters there are guys hungry for food.
Alright then, eyes peeled. We had a system. Bill drove, and I was the spotter. Lots of surprised, grateful faces met us as they looked up from their 'work' and reached out for the food. A toothless grin and a nod , with a Thanks Man ! It was great.

More alleys, more faces. More people to find. One fellow riding his bike, was headed right for us, so we slowed down to talk to him. His name was Chris. Maybe around late 20's. I asked if he had eaten yet today? " no, not yet" A totally grateful man accepted the food and thanked me. I spent some extra time chatting with him, because I figured he could lead me to more people. Sure enough, this guy was kind of the patriarch of the alley.

He told me he has lived here, behind the Howard Johnson Hotel, for 5 years now. He emphasized the five years. "So, I said, 'You know everyone here" Yup.
Who else can you point us to? "You have to find Elizabeth, she's in a bad way today. Real bad." Ok where? Half way down the next alley, on the left, under a heat vent.
"Ok Chris, we'll find her. Keep shining your Light, the world needs you, God bless"
He grinned a toothless grin. "I do my best" … I know, I thought, you sure do.
Off we went, and there, as Chris said, there was Elizabeth. Slumped over, and out of it totally. It appeared she had been "tucked in and propped up ", probably Chris doing what he could to make her comfortable. She had no idea we left food. Maybe later she'd eat it.

So that's what the Clark's do. No tree and gifty stuff. We meet people and offer a meal with no judgment . It's a small thing- just a meal for one day, but we get a lot from it.
More than the guys and gals will ever possibly know. We all matter. It doesn't make a difference what you look like or where you live. We all have a story. We all matter.

Cathy Clark is a Personal Professional coach with over 7 years experience helping people learn how to utilize the Law of Attraction in their career, business, or just plain Life - get what you want, not what you don't. Cathy can be reached through her website, www.coachingwithcathy.com or by email, cathy@coachingwithcathy.com.


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