Everyone defines that word differently. For me, it means having slept on the ground, getting up, and not going back.
I know and understand that while living on the streets you can easily give up on yourself and your life. Many homeless people you see have mental issues you don’t know about. Many are there because they must be, not because they want to be. We all have our demons to deal with. I have many, as you will read one day when I write my book. I admit that I have witnessed many things I wish I had not.
I was doing time for my drug charges. But I was looking at 25 more years for a case of mistaken identity. I was put in a block with people who were waiting to be sentenced for murder charges. The jail people didn’t know my charges so they thought I belonged with the murderers. As I sat there under a name that wasn’t mine, I had time to talk with people who would never see the light of day again. I realized I was in this hellhole with what felt like lost souls because of the choices I had made. Then I spent nine months going through the court system telling every judge I was not the person the courts said I was. I eventually put my life in the hand of a grand jury. Fortunately, it did not indict me.
So, to my people on the streets, if you are capable and strong in your mind and know you can do better, you will. Trust me! Don’t give up when life is tough; just be tougher. And to my Street Sense family, I love you and I thank you for supporting me and encouraging me not to give up.
Keep joy in your heart and keep your spirit high no matter what.
One love. One God.
