Dear Anonymous ,
A Dear Anonymous in the flesh, our friend Robin, shows up this morning with food, blankets, some clothing and big bags of toys for Mike to share up at the Family Shelter, or with families he knows that could use a lift for their kids.
Hard to tell who was happier and who was gonna have the most fun. The giver. The distributor. Or the kids. It's a win-win-win and he cannot wait.
The conversation turns to more difficult subjects like men who have been sexually abused as children. About how that can manifest into violence and other truly difficult behaviors. It turns toward the damage people can do to one another, particularly to children. And it continued into the injustices connected to some of the lives of those who have been abused. To the pain. And to the very difficult practice of 'doing the right thing'.
Mike is going to walk around the corner with me because a friend is sleeping there. 'But, you ain't goin' alone. That guy who stabbed my arm last year is sleepin' there too.'
I don't need to be the one to deliver the card. I hand him two.
He pauses looking at the card then lifts his eyes to mine,
'Ya' mean for THAT guy too?'
He smiles.
' I get it. What are we supposeed to do....?'
— with Robin Lynn Herrick.