Allison

(News update at the bottom!)
When you judge people make sure you know about their past.
I could write a book about this kind soul. (This is NOT a po...
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(News update at the bottom!)
When you judge people make sure you know about their past.
I could write a book about this kind soul. (This is NOT a post suited for millenial attention spans ...) Allison and I met for the first time 3 years ago. She was asking for a little change. What made it funny was her cardboard sign 'aliens abducted my husband, need money for ninja lessons'. (She still uses it)
A year after our first encounter and me having supported her a little bit every week she waited for me outside the office were I worked. She wanted to say goodbye because she was leaving for a drug rehab far away from town. 'I have enough money for my ninja lessons now. Thank you for blessing me.'
That is when I realized that her sign was funny but not a joke. There was a deeper meaning to it that she coraborated years later.

By now she is back in town. She is clean enough to have earned a financed methadone prescription. But she is still struggeling.

Having a daughter, abandoned by her husband when she was young and by her family whose (mostly) religious pressure she couldn't bear led to some bad decisions in her life. Other things happened, too. One thing lead to another.
She is still trying to change her life for the better, but her past always gets in the way. Your past affects your future

We still run into each other almost every day, have a chat and occasionally have a coffee and a hot chocolate together. She does not ask for money that often anymore, even though I am happy to give, we just chat and treat each other with respect, listen. I know I cannot help her, but I can make her life a little bit better.
By now, I would miss it.
Except for her trying to get me married to every good looking woman that walks past us :) People are very often judged by how they appear and what a life they lead. For some of us life decided to have us run into that brick wall we did not see coming. You are not a funny, successful and entertaining person because you deserve it. Maybe you just got lucky to be born into the right circumstances, having a family that supports you and good advice.

Update: A few weeks ago Allison waited for me at the cafe where I usually have a coffee on Sundays. She told me that her family accepted her back and with that help of her family she is now part of a help program, picked up a life studies program that comes with it and also a longer rehab program. Some stories have a happy ending. She moved out of town to break her vicious cycle. She seemed happy and positive that this time things were going the right way. She waited for me to thank me and to say goodbye.
I do miss her, and I am glad there is a good cause that I have to.

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