I only caught a small glimpse of his past, but he told me one of the many reasons he was homeless was because his wife left him. I simply smiled.
This was in Indianapolis, Indiana on Monday.
"Divorce is expensive. I used to joke they were going to call it 'all the money,' but they changed it to 'alimony.' It's ripping your heart out through your wallet." - Robin Williams
He would walk about 10 steps and then stop to catch his breath. Ten more steps and a local resident stopped to ask if he was okay. He responded and then continued is his journey a mere three blocks to get a free bagged lunch. I ran across him in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He told me that his lungs were bad and it was his fault. A few years back he inhaled Freon while working on an old refrigerator. He said that it ruined his lungs.
I snapped the photo and he asked, “Did you get a picture of my one good tooth [laughing]?” I smiled, “Got it.” He then went into detail about how bad teeth run in his family, “That one is holding on,” he said with a grin.
“I’m homeless, but I will soon get an apartment - I’m gonna’ get that all decorated and then check into the hospital,” he said. He then told me that he can’t get a lung transplant because that is for millionaires and he wants to hold onto his millions, again laughing.
As crazy as it may sound, he seemed happy and in good spirits. Charlie Chaplin once stated, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”