I posted on here a while ago about an experience I had at a local Dennys on Veterans Day. ... I wanna share something and Im not looking for a pat on the back but to share how if you just listen to someone you can change their life forever for the better..... there is good people in the world. ... Im a female Air Force Veteran. I was sitting in the waiting room at the VA Medical Center here in Houston waiting on my brother to be seen for complications from his kidney cancer surgery on Thursday evening. I see this homeless Veteran and hes clearly agitated. I motion to him with my hands if he wants a bottle of water and he says yes then I motion for food and he says no. My sister in law Bethany came over and got the drink out of the machine as I cant bend over from my drunk driving accident injuries. I take it over to him and I see that hes all wet. I ask him what is wrong and why hes here. He says well Im a Veteran. I said I understand that, Im a Veteran as well but why are you coming here to be seen. .. whats wrong. He proceeds to tell me hes been there for 3 hours and as hes telling me this he lifts up his shirt to reveal a huge hernia and a LEAKING liver bag because they hadnt tended to him. I went over and demanded someone see him instantly which they got a wheelchair and took over to bring him to a room my brother John was being held in. As Im standing there talking to him he asks me if I have children. I told him that hubs and I have our son Kyle but that we are working on a baby. He points at my stomach and he says youve got a little girl in there and I think you should name her Paulina Grace. Paulina cause Paul is his middle name and he loves it but Grace because I am his saving Grace from God. .. aawww so I ask him if there was one thing in this life that he could wish for what would it be. He says Ive been kicked out of this VA facility so many times to only sleep on the bench outside the gates in the freezing cold. Hes been in Houston for a year with the belief that he could get a lover transplant so much faster here. .. He says I could only dream of being back home in Nashville. I looked at him, smiled and told him it will happen. I excused myself to go back into the waiting room and start checking with Greyhound. Later, a very nice doctor comes out and comes up to me asking me if Im Willie s family because she needs to talk to me and he told her that Im the closest thing he had to family. Aawwww she tells me that there is nothing they can do for him short of a liver transplant and they would be releasing him to sleep in the bench in the cold rain. I told her of my plan and she agreed to let him sleep in the waiting room for the night. I went and told him that he had a warm place for the night and I would be back for him in the morning. Meanwhile I spent the rest of the evening with my brother and when he finally got a room Bethany and I walked downstairs to leave at 3 a on Friday morning. I seen Willie covered up in blankets getting some much needed sleep. .. it warmed my heart. I got up at 630 a and took kyle to school. After I dropped him off I immediately started making phone calls to a Purple Heart Vietnam Veteran who runs Vets Journey Home and to my friend Justin to see about getting some help. Calls were made and US Vets picked Willie up from the hospital and took him to their location downtown. After a day of shopping for new clothes, shower, backpack, snacks, phone card and a haircut he was surprised with his ticket at Greyhound to Nashville. I have to admit I shed some tears when he left and it was certainly one if the most fulfilling days of my life. I will never forget Mr. Willie Hopkins. I was able to help him with help from friends and organizations that stepped up with no questions to help him. Next time you see a homeless person on the street dont assume that they want to be there. There are circumstances that sometimes lead them there. In the case of Willie he was given a chance a couple times to go to a shelter but he refused because he wanted to give that space he would be taking to someone else in more need. How did he end up on the street? Well his ex-wife killed their 5 year old son from starvation because she thought he was fat. Mr. Willie lost it. ... All it takes is one act of kindness to make a world of difference. ...... pay it forward
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 03:08:44 +0000
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