reply to post by lombozo

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Hey man.
Just remember you made the time he did have a little brighter. I know its easier to condemn yourself for what you did not do but you did alot more than most would and for that you are to be commended I wish for with all my soul more people were like you.

You sir bring honor to the largely honorless human race.
We NEED more of you.



You must clone yourself NOW!


[edit on 29-2-2008 by WraothAscendant]

reply to post by lombozo

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I hope you do forgive yourself...

Im sorry for what happened to Robert, bad things happen to good people, though to me he died knowing he had a friend and with you in his heart, im sure this meant more to him than probably anything he had....so he was never alone.

What you do does make a difference, even if sometimes it might feel like it doesnt. Society is what lets these people down, not you...

I totally respect the work you do...

Have you thought of writing a book about your stories, if you could get it published then maybe donate some of the money to the Soup Kitchen....just an idea.

Regards,

JQ.

Trust me...one Lombozo is enough...

I'm joking of course.
The world would be a much better place if more of us truly gave a care instead of just walking past those less fortunate than ourselves, and I have been on both sides of that fence. It can be hard to swallow your pride and ask for help. Very hard.
It makes it much easier when someone allows you to do so and still treats you with the dignity and respect that a human being deserves.

reply to post by AccessDenied

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Yea me too. Know know what both sides of the fence are like.
And people such as Lombozo are what justifies to me to keep what little faith I do still have in humanity.

I totally agree with you.
I cannot possibly say more.Except he is one in a million.

Sometimes I feel like I would like to "save the world", but then I remember that sometimes we're all just caught up by the big lint roller of Life.
I have to remind myself that we always play in someone else's karma. What is most important is what we as individuals can do, to our best abilities, using our gifts we were given. Lombozo shows us how to help the world, shining his Light as it were to help us See, as the Good Samaritan did, one person at a time.

I like the idea of a book to help the Soup Kitchen.

reply to post by desert

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I second that.
I also want to add this idea if it is not something available in your community Lombozo, or anyone's for that matter.

Every fall here, around the end of September, there is a church and a used clothing store, that team up..and take donations for the most needy of our city.
They take winter clothing, regular clothing, and blankets..and all of it gets distributed from the church for an entire month..for FREE.
People who not be able to afford a winter jacket otherwise, are gladly provided with one.
I save up all my clothing, my kids clothing, boots, mitts and hats..and I donate them and I have done so for the last three years.
4 years ago..my family benefited from the service they provided, and I always repay out of gratitude. Not to mention the good feeling it gives me to do so.

This past year,I have been making blankets out of polar fleece, which my kids love, and I love to do it...and I will be donating about 15 of them. They are smaller and mostly for the children, but I get great comments on them, and made them as gifts for Christmas and birthdays in previous years.
No matter what one person does..every little bit helps.

I don't know what to say. I don't.
Just real life experiences that I like to share. Think what you might, say what you will. I just share with my ATS family what I have experienced. Nothing more. It takes no talent to write a real life experience.
I mean it when I say 'THANK YOU' for taking the time to read.

reply to post by lombozo

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No thank you for helping those in need and expecting nothing in return.
And for helping one jaded man justify keeping what little faith in humanity he has left.


[edit on 1-3-2008 by WraothAscendant]

Don't blame yourself man, you did all that you could and I bet you did make his last days quite a bit brighter. You can't save the world but darn it you are trying.

Do you mind if I share the link to this thread to some of my friend non-ATS friends? These stories are just so touching.

No I don't mind at all.

The red LED display says 1:45 am. How in the heck is it time to get up already? I haven't even gone to sleep yet. Insomnia, what a concept.........

Anyway, I log off my computer. Time to make the donuts. Quick shave, and shower. I pull on my clothes, and take a peek into my sons room. I hear his sleep induced deep breathing. I give him a quick kiss, and say:

"I love you Buddy"

His eyes open for just a moment, and he says:

"I love you too Daddy."

Just that quick and he rolls over and is sleeping again. I pull up his fuzzy (the name for his blanket), and go downstairs.

The dog, and the cats are fast asleep. The furnace is quietly doing it's job, and the vents are discharging warm toasty air onto my family. I pull my coat and shoes on, and pull the front door open as quietly as I can. I walk out into the cold dark moonless morning. I stand on the front porch for a second and watch the steam from my breath disapate into the crisp morning air.
Man! I would love to just turn around and get comfy in my bed.

My cars windows are covered with ice. I turn on the car and listen to the bong, bong, bong, bong from the cars system letting me know that the door is open while the engine is running.

My ice scraper is ancient. I think I saw a facsimile of it on the show 'When Ancient Cavemen Made Tools'. Oh well, it might be the last thing in the world I feel like doing. I SO want to go back in and get comfortable. It's freakin' cold out!

Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape.......... This ice scraper - I feel like breaking it. It's about as effective as a bottle of Elmers Glue on the damage to the Titanic.

Finally, the ice is kinda/sorta/maybe off the windows and I get into the car. Hmmmmm.......... I forgot to turn on the defrosters. C'mon! I really want to go back in my home and get comfortable. Maybe pull out a good book...... Mmmmmmm....... The air starts coming out my car vents, and in under a minute, I'm nice and warm.

Reverse. Look both ways. Looks cool. I back out into the desolate street. Drive. Here we go. I start to drive. My headlights cut into the darkness illuminating what was moments ago total blackness. I see the glowing eyes of a couple of animals reflecting back at me across the way. Mmmmmm........ My car heater is working well. Nice and toasty.

I see my local convenience store in the distance. I approach it and pull into the driveway.

" Hi Sammy!"

"Lombozo!"

I see Sammy just about every week. He is always reading some sort of a magazine or paper every time I come in. He does look up and is cordial, but is much more interested in his reading. That's cool. Anyway, I pour myself a nice cup of coffee, and savor the aroma as it wafts to my nostrils.

"Here you go Sammy" and I throw down the correct change.
"See you next week."

"Yep, see you next week lombozo."

I get back into my nice warm car, and take a sip of the coffee I just poured. Nectar of the gods. Now if only I could go back home and get comfortable in my nice warm house, with my perfect cup of coffee, watching The Three Stooges.

Man. What the heck am I doing out here at 2:00 in the morning in the freezing cold?

I turn on my car radio, and pop in my favorite CD of the day. The music envelopes me, and I sing along with the tunes.

I pull into the lot of the soup kitchen, and turn off the car. My coffee is just about done, and I'm still singing the song where it left off when I turned off the car.

Damn! It is freakin' cold out! WTF? I want to go back home. What am I thinkin' and stuff?

The back door is stubborn and doesn't want to open as usual. A loud creaking sound blares out as I open it. I hate that door. I want to go home.

I see all of the familiar faces.
"Hi everybody."

"Hi lombozo!"

I take my jacket off, and we all proceed to accomplish our tasks. In no time it's ready to open the doors.

As soon as the door opens, people come flooding in. Many I've come to know, many I've never seen before.
I serve them platters of food. The food is made with love and good will, but the majority of people would not really be giving us a 5 star rating.

However. I watch. I always am keenly aware of others. I watch as the majority of my extended family here at the Kitchen relish what they have. The thank you's, the God bless you's, the little things that happen are heart felt and real.

Seeing these things make me realize how freakin' good I have it.

I am so glad I didn't stay in bed.

Thanks, lombozo, for another report from the frontline. I'm glad you write about your experiences. It truly is inspiring. And the experiences and people become so real.

I tend to drop in here when I feel "less than nice" for my daily dose of compassion.
Recently a community member killed himself, I didn't know the man well, did not really care for his politics in his prior job, but respected the man.
I often view the world in terms of how it effects me and my family. And I believed this had nothing to do we me. But because of our mutual friends, we found ourselves in the middle of the crisis intervention chain.
So anyways, thanks for your words and perspective, it helped me get through a rough week.

You can hear Lombozo on the ATS MIX Show 76.

Dave

Your experiences are gut-wrenching to say the least Lombozo... and I'm humbled by your charity of the heart...

Your a good man..!

Johnny

"Daddy? What's a Soup Kitchen?"

"It's a place where people come and eat Little Dude."

"Why do you go there Daddy?"

"To help people."

"Why do you help people?"

"Sometimes people need help buddy. Sometimes they need that help."

"Daddy? What do you do there?"

"Well, I help to cook the food, then I serve it to my friends."

"Are they your friends Dadddy?"

I got to my knees, took his shoulders, and pulled him close to me.

"Buddy, listen to me, OK?"

OK Daddy."

"There are some bad people in this world, and you need to make sure that you don't EVER talk to strangers, OK?"

"OK."

"But most people are good people, and are friends. Do you understand?"

"No Daddy."

"Whenever Mommy or me are there you can talk to people."

"But Daddy? If your not there how can I make friends?"

Wow. How in the heck do I answer this one?

"Little Dude. If a teacher is there, or grandmom, or a policeman...."

"A POLICEMAN!!!!"

He wants to be a police officer.

"Yep, a police man. If they're around you can talk to new friends. But ONLY if one of us is around, ok?"

"OK Daddy. Why do you feed your friends?"

"Because, sometimes people need things, but they don't have enough money."

"Why not Daddy?"

"Because sometimes people are not lucky."

"Are we lucky?"

"You bet we are Little Dude. Time to go to bed."

So we go to bed and I tell him a story. In no time he's asleep. Several hours later it's time for me to go to the Soup Kitchen. I take my shower, and kiss him.

"You going to help your friends Daddy?"

"You bet Little Buddy. I'll be back later, OK?"

"Uh-huh" Amazing how quickly he falls back to slumber land.

So I go and do my thing. Typical day. Served a bunch of those in need, and made alot of people smile even if for just a moment with a silly joke. We finish serving, clean the kitchen and head out. I pull into my driveway, and my son is waiting at the door for me.

"DADDY!"

"DUD!"

I get my big super squeezy hug.

"Daddy! I have something for your friends!" He grabs my hand and pulls me into the dining room. He has his back pack sitting on the table, and pulls it off.

"Come here. Look Daddy!"

He opens the back pack. In it are Juice Boxes, Goldfish Crackers, an unpopped Jiffy Pop Popcorn, and his favorite fuzzy blanket, and a couple of his CD's. All of his favorite things...........

His smile. So angelic. So innocent. So PERFECT. "Here Daddy. Give this to your friends! Can they be my friends too?"

"They already are Buddy. They already are."

6'3" tall. 240 lbs. Not afraid of battle, but...... but.... but..... this little man made it hard to see due to my misting over. He truly makes me strive to be better every single day.

"I love you Pal."

"I love you too Daddy. When can I help you at the Soup Kitchen?"

"Someday Buddy. Give me a hug."

You know? Sometimes a squeezy hug makes everything else pale in comparison.

reply to post by lombozo

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You've got to remind me to stop reading your stories while at work...

I hate having to explain to co-workers why I have tears running down my face.


Thanks for Sharing.

Wow! Simply wow!
I've mentioned in previous posts that the food we serve is standard fare. The basic staples. Eggs, soup. bread, sausage, and juice, for the most part. Occasionaly something else, but rarely.
Anyway I'm a tad on the social side. I talk to everyone, whether I know them or not. Over the last couple of months I became friendly with someone who worked at the supermarket I frequent. I really didn't know much about him other than he was well spoken, dressed well, and was cool. Every week I go to the store, and he's always there. It came up in conversation at some point that I volunteer at the soup kitchen.
Lo and behold he came in yesterday.
I asked "What in the heck are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see your establishment."

"Hardly an establishment." It is a cafeteria. "And it's not mine. I just work here that's all."

"You mean to say that you volunteer here, correct?"

"Yep. I volunteer here. But trust me, it's alot of work."

"I'm sure it is lombozo."

"Lombozo, approximately how many people do you get in here daily?"

We talked numbers for a minute or two.

"Lombozo I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"Yes. I see you in the store with your son. I see the way you treat people. I've seen you help people in the store. Torrie still talks about how you paid for that mans groceries when he didn't have enough to cover it."

What the heck is going on here? Torrie is one of the cashiers. Once there was an elderly man who was a couple bucks short, and he had to give back a box of rice, and a gallon of milk, I just made up the difference for him. I spend more on a pack of smokes. No big deal.

"Ummmmm...... OK........."

I never knew it but it turns out that this man owned the store I go to as well as a couple others.

"Lombozo. The weekend before Thanksgiving I am donating enough turkeys with all of the sides to feed everybody a real Thanksgiving dinner. Everything."

"But I couldn't possibly cook them here."

He held his hand up.

"Shhhh. Everything will be prepared. Turkeys will come cooked. Stuffing. Cranberry sauce. Bread, fresh fruit. I'll have it delivered whatever time you want. All you need to do is serve it."

"Are you serious"

"Yes, I am."

"What can I say?"

"Thank you would be nice."

"Thank you."

"See you in a couple weeks, ok?"

"Thank you!"

"Shhh."

He turned and walked out.

This might truly be the best Thanksgiving EVER!
There really is good in the world.

THANK YOU BRUCE!

reply to post by lombozo

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Yeah..the waterworks again.
I have never felt so much love as I do now.
I can't wait till the day I stand beside you in that line, doing exactly what you do.
I wish there wasn't a need for it, but I'm thankful for those that care enough to provide for those that otherwise could not.
You see honey...kindness is contagious, and YOU, SIR..spread it wherever you go.
And..never mistake that IT IS A BIG DEAL.