Carlos

I'm sitting here on Valentines Day, and my thoughts go back to a guy we met on Saturday. We were outside the Dorothy Day Center, handing out water, snack bars and gloves when he walked up to us. He was a young guy, maybe early 20s. He asked what we were giving out. We gave him some food and a knit hat. He hung around and kept talking, and we got his story.

Carlos is from the south of Mexico. He's here working in the construction trades. He's a roofer, and isn't working right now. Work starts up again in a month. He has no money until then, so he gets by sleeping where he can and eating at the Center. He admitted that it is so tough that sometimes he has to "escape reality" to survive. He glanced around at the other people outside the center.

After a pause, he went on. His biggest fear when he's working is that he'll fall off the roof and be injured. Next to that, his biggest pain is that he hasn't seen his wife and daughter in over a year. Right now he has no money, but once he gets some if he went back to visit he wouldn't be able to reenter the US. His eyes started to water, and I could see that he was torn between doing anything he could to feed his family, and missing them desparately.

Later that day, we kicked ourselves for not taking him over to Mickey's Diner for some food, and simply being there for him. Next week we'll seek him out. Larry is going downtown a couple of days this week, and is going to keep an eye out for him.

So here I am, getting ready to pick up some flowers to give my wife tonight, and I still see Carlos, and the hurt in his eyes that he tried to hide, as he talks about his wife and daughter. I still see his loneliness.

As we left we prayed for his safety, and also that God would guard his heart and mind and keep him from desparate choices. Right now, as you read this, you are one of a very few people that even knows Carlos the person exists. When you sit down with loved ones tonight, say a silent prayer for Carlos and his wife and daughter, for their safety and their reunion.
Blessings all!