Under the glowing Eiffel Tower, tucked away on the steps and benches of Paris are many people living within their invisible walls of a home:
The man in a deep sleep on the steps of Louis Vuitton, bed made comfortably, suitcase at foot, and on the suitcase neatly lies his suit-jacket, careful not to wrinkle it. By day, I wonder, if I saw this man would I know he does not have a home? Well dressed, suitcase with wheels, walking Paris.
We pass the disheveled woman, maybe 55, with low pigtails and dark make-up, dirty white dog in her lap. What is her story, I wonder? Was she in broadway and still living the dream? That is how it seems to me.
The man across the street is singing a lullaby to all, while the man in the bus stop near us is encouraging him to quiet, speaking more to himself than to anyone else.
A man fast asleep in a glass phone booth, one foot up on the door.
A mother and father tucking their 2 young boys in on their large mattresses in a dark street. After all, they had had a long day and it was after the boys bedtime.
A father sits on his mattress on a busy street corner, 2 year old daughter in lap, fighting her sleeplessness.
As we walked the enchanted streets, it seemed more than common to pass someone lounging on their mattress in the morning sun reading a magazine, or petting their dog, with what seemed to be all their possessions lying beside. Not boxes and bags, but suitcases and basketballs… normal possessions that we ourselves have as well. What happened? Who are these people and what are their stories?
Last night in Paris, and it was hard to fall asleep. Not because I didn’t want to leave (which, I LOVED Paris), but because after seeing these images for 3 days and 3 nights, the faces were calling out to me.
At the point of Paris, it had been over a year since Jeremy and I had first set out on our adventure around the world. We have entered and exited so many countries… (was it 19 that we counted? Give or take 1?) …we have embraced so many people, and cultures, and sights, and religions - although we didn’t agree with or like all, but we loved all.
Walking through each country and seeing the exposed weaknesses, we have come to learn that every country has a need. Every person has a problem. Everybody needs to be loved…. whether that is in Paris, Australia, Cambodia, or Canada. This lesson was both on Jeremy and my heart as we wrapped up our final days abroad.
While in a new city, it is easy to take in all the new things, because you are not expecting anything…. you don’t know what you will discover. On the streets of our own city, we know the sights, we know the homelessness already, and over the years we have grown accustomed. Paris had opened our eyes to the need in Paris, but reminded us of that same need in Edmonton. There are heartbreaking life stories everywhere, but we can no longer “grow accustomed” to them. We can no longer walk past another day and think, “I should do something, I should volunteer maybe, but where is the time?” There is always time, until one day life is over.
We have landed in Canada, and we are not sure how our future will look after this year. What will change? I am not sure just yet, but how can our lives be the same? They can’t? Mundane routine? The thought scares me.
