death

My best friend Berry Thomas passed away last Friday of a heart attack.
His wife Trina told me had an enlarged heart.
Indeed he had the largest heart in the world.
I'm planning on a eulogy for him and am trying to post it on my Facebook account.
I'm kind of at a loss of words right now but will be better equipped emotionally and psychologically following the funeral and wake.
Pray for his family.

flexible

While covering the Arkansas Razorbacks football team in the 1980s I encountered a term for a defensive philosophy entitled, "Bend but don't break."
In other words be flexible but never let your defenses down.
That's a good philosophy to employ when dealing with any adverse circumstance.
Be ever vigilant. Bend your reflexes. But never breakdown.
Or as a friend once said while assembling a tent for me, "Adapt, improvise, overcome."
I had a friend who almost died last week.
He collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
They diagnosed his blood-sugar count to be 2,150.
In the parlance of doctors, you should be dead.
Nevertheless, my friend persevered and fought off the enemies within his body.
He's now taking insulin shots in the stomach and has drastically changed his eating habits.
I admire his changes.
He now awakens in the morning and drinks coffee and enjoys breakfast.
Something I've never see him do over the course of 10 years of living together, off and on.
But he's made of sterner stuff.
Both of us are PKs. Preacher's kids.
For awhile we lived a charmed life.
But reality intervened.
I endured the hardships of homelessness.
At first I rebelled against God and pondered, "Why me?"
Then I was afforded the window of opportunity to write about homelessness.
I encountered God and took a more religious approach to my life experiences.
I could be a living example of how to cope and not mope.
I could document the experiences and hopefully enlighten others who might find it within their hearts to help others in distress.
I've also written about the realities of dealing with critters, which every homeless individual must encounter. Again I tried to eventually take a philosophical attitude.
Then, the police rudely awakened us.
Again I wrote about the experiences.
There are some of us who are chosen to be the spokesmen.
That's the only logical explanation for what's transpired in my life and my attitudes towards coping.
God helps us endure.
God has a purpose for our lives.
God rewards us when we make the right decisions and handle the adversity with a modicum of aplomb.
I've been blessed this year when a friend offered his apartment to me during the frigid ice ages.
I've also been a little bit of a coward and took the easy way out and checked into a motel when I had some money.
But last night I had the best night of sleep in a long time, in my tent, with three sleeping bags as mattresses and a blanket provided by the kind people at Central United Methodist Church for a Christmas gift.
God bless that blanket!
God bless those who care and share!!
We shall overcome!!

hospitality

Fayetteville provides quintessential care for those in need.
I've struggled to survive in Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale while enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune.
I almost starved in Bentonville and Rogers but the kind hearts at Springdale Methodist Church's Bread of Life provided me with sustenance.
Finally I moved to Fayetteville where there's free transit via Razorback Transit.
There's Seven Hills Homeless Center which provides invaluable aid.
There's the St. Paul's Episcopal Church which provides meals on Mondays and Wednesdays, plus they dispensed a plethora of nice Christmas gifts to everyone.
There's the Central United Methodist Church which provides meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
There's College Avenue Baptist Church which provides a breakfast meal at 9 a.m. on Sundays.
There's LifeSource which provides a Sunday night meal and tents and sleeping bags.
So, in summation if you're down on your luck and you need a place to regroup and seek some solace and comfort and food I would highly recommend Fayetteville.
Per capita I've never met so many loving people who want to genuinely help with caring and sharing.
Thanks Fayettevillians. And you're not villains you're compassionate Christians.
God Bless Fayetteville!!!

brrrrrr

The frigid weather has been very frustrating to those of us who are brave enough to venture forth with our lives.
I came to the library but they're not opening up until 11 a.m.
So I went to catch the ORT bus to Seven Hills.
They're not running until 10 a.m.
I fear it's too cold to walk anywhere else so I'm blogging about everyone else's paranoia about the frigidity.
I'll be glad to get back to Bentonville tomorrow, weather permitting, of course.
On Monday the Fayetteville library didn't even open, so I ventured to Bentonville where the road conditions were 10 times worse. The Bentonville library was open, nevertheless, but I don't have access to their computer system.
I'll be taking a week's hiatus while in Bentonville unless the spirit moves me to go to the Daily Record.
Kudos to Cobblestone for providing shelter at Seven Hills Homeless Center.
That's the grandest thing I've seen since I've been dealing with homelessness.
Everyone else says they want to help and they want a shelter, but Cobblestone stepped forward and did something.
Bravo!

happynewyear

So far this has been a very happy New Year!
I've been blessed and have slept on three people's couches lately.
That's couch surfing in the vernacular.
I haven't had access to a computer due to the holidays and inclement weather.
A friend moved out of his apartment and in with his girl friend and so that's been my sleeping nest lately.
Last night he informed me anything in the apartment was available.
The furniture is pretty nice and I e-mailed Mike Rusch of Cobblestone Projects with the pertinent details.
So hopefully someone who needs some furniture will benefit from this development.
Cobblestone Project deserves beaucoups of kudos for helping monitor Seven Hills being available for overnight accommodations through next week.
Also College Avenue Baptist Church is opening up its doors to the homeless for sleeping arrangements.
Thanks to all who are opening up their hearts and hands to help those less fortunate.
It's very much appreciated.
The Razorbacks played lights out against Texas Tuesday night.
When Courtney Fortson raced onto the court for the first time this season the student section at Bud Walton Arena erupted with jubilation.
He was an inspirational force but the Longhorns are powerful and well deserving of their No. 2 ranking.
Hopefully the Hogs will start like gang busters against Mississippi State Saturday.
I won't be able to watch the National Football Championship game between Alabama and Texas but I'm an SEC zealot and am rooting for the Tide to roll.
It was funny to listen to some of the comments of Arkansas fans jesting at Longhorn rooters.
But Texas boasted the most firepower and prevailed.
Happy New Year!