Giving the Lonely Some Hope

Translated…

He who now lives on the streets, was without a home, and loved ones.  He once had, a family too, but eventually, he’d divorced his wife, “She may have just been angry for the time being, or she wanted to play coy, and, I’d thought, that signing the divorce was my kindness to her instead.”  He’d told me lightly, and how he had no contact with his blood relatives to date.

His elderly parents are dead, and, his older brothers all had families, and, it would be, intrusive of him to bother them, he’d not want to become a burden to anybody else, he’d decided, to live off, on his own like this.  “Thankfully, I’d passed out at work.  Otherwise, maybe, no one would’ve discovered me when I’d died.”  He’d taken that tone of voice, so plain, but, with a scent of gratitude, toward the arrangements heavens made for him.

This homeless man told me so many stories, including how that night at his shift, he’d gotten a stroke without warnings; how it was difficult for him, to take care of himself after his illness, and, how his situation couldn’t pass the doors for him to get assistance from the government.

Now he lives alone, but he’s not lonely, at least, there’s this selling magazine gig, that can help him make ends meet, help him stay connected to the world.  The vending had help him get an income, made friends, the readers cared about his existence, and, he’d gotten that affirmation for his life back.  “At the end of life, you’d known, that someone once cared about you.”  I’d nodded, I’d understood, even IF he lives on the streets, he didn’t like to be shown pity, and people giving money to him as charity, because only from work, could he gain the continual interactions with the world around, giving him the desires, and the support to keep going in life, although one day, he must bid farewell to the world, but at least, he won’t feel disappointed by the world again.

And I still understood, that this sort of a storyline, is not just limited to the streets.  He was just like you and I, an ordinary man, living an ordinary life, but, in an instant, lost connection with the rest of the world, lived on lonely, and then maybe, quietly, solitarily, dying off on his own.

I’d recalled a phenomenon in society called, “death by lonely”.  In Japan, the elderly without the families or work, lived alone, and, before they passed, they rarely interacted with the outside world, and, after they’d died for days, they were then, discovered.  When the societies marched toward the makeup of smaller families, and the aging populations, the husband or the wife will die before oneself, and, the children may not be able to care for you until the end, and, this sort of a condition is no longer differentiated by your status quo, and, all that is needed, is for someone to show some compassion, to show some care and concern.  “Loving parents not our own, caring for younger generations not related to us by blood”, is what this is all about; don’t let the regrets of not being able to do something to help someone out, just sit down, and listen, and offer those who lived alone, a small scent of hope.

So, this is about showing care and concerns for those who are around you, but, we don’t do that anymore, as modern day people are getting trapped by their own circumstances, and, until we can resolve ALL the major issues in our own lives, we can’t make the time, to show cares or concerns, to those who are in need.