He had tears coming down his face while sitting outside in the bitter cold December wind, not because he was sad, but because his eyes were swollen with an infection.
“Do you have a prescription for your eyes,” I asked. “I do, but I don’t have it with me and I don’t know where it is because I can’t afford to fill it,” he said.
I looked down at his feet and he had one shoe on and a brace around the other foot that was adorned with a red hospital sock. “What happened,” I curiously asked. “I shattered my foot,” he said looking down.
He is from Nashville and has been homeless on and off for the past 7 years.
On most days you will find him at the entrance of a Chinese Buffet restaurant selling newspapers on Murfreesboro Road.
Comedian Richard Pryor (1940-2005) who sometimes had great success, also had massive struggles in life. I would guess that he knew struggles well as he was often teetering between fame and hard times.
Pryor once stated, "I believe the ability to think is blessed. If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think"