REMEMBERING THE FOURTEEN

News clip of memorial above(the news reports eight lost, we read of fourteen names of lost loved ones)


Today, December 21 is the represents the first day of winter. It is also the day that we all come together at the Corpus Christi shelter to remember our friends outside that have passed during the year.

As I arrived I was amazed at the amount of people who showed up, not just those on the streets but also those from the community, all wanting to show in someway that these wonderful people were not forgotten and loved.

It was a beautiful memorial. An Indian drum circle played Native American songs on the drums. People from different religious backgrounds spoke and read poetry. Christian, Jewish and Buddhist prayers were spoken, each reminding of the peace, hope, love and acceptance we need in our lives. The one thing that stood out in my mind was some of the words that Henry, the director of Corpus said, “We all leave footprints on the hearts of the lives we come in contact with and those footprints are carried on to the next person.”

As I stood among the hundred or so people, you could see the hurt and fear in their eyes. The hurt over lost friends and the fear that it could be them. As I stood there one of the young men walked up next to me and stood real close. Then at one point I thought someone had bumped into him and knocked him into me. As I caught my footing I notice that no one had bumped him, but instead he was trying to lean on me. He was trying to get as close as he could. I looked him in the eyes and I could see his hurt and pain. No words were spoken, I knew what he was after, I held out my arms and he collapsed in my arms sobbing and sobbing. We both stood crying as they read off the fourteen names of those we lost this year.

Another came up and asked if I would remember her if she were gone. One asked if I would hold is hand. One man I did not know kept circling around and then just walked up and hugged me and said, “I love you!” One after another came just wanting to be touched and held for a moment. Each just wanting to know that they to are not forgotten and loved. I pray that the footprint I leave on the lives of my friends is that they are loved, they are someone special and they will always be remembered! I know each and every one of them has left their footprint on my life. For those fourteen we lost this year, I pray that they also knew how deeply loved they were.