Bobby

Bobby:

He walked into the downtown coffee shop I always stop at to do my homework
Standing at about 5’11’ with blonde hair and a fair complexion and if I say without appearing to judge him, he had surprisingly nice teeth
There were no empty seats save the one directly across from the small table I was sitting at
I noticed him, but pretend to remain preoccupied while simultaneously petrified that he might actually try and share my table. And I wasn’t at all surprised when the guys next words word were:
“hey man. .. . Can I sit here”
And in my head I’m like “oh dear” but instead what he hears is “oh for sure”
And he sits. . . . And he sips.. . . And I refuse to open my lips. ..
And my gosh was it awkward. . .

His name was “Bobby” and in all honesty he was a bit strange. Not the I’m afraid for my life type, or keep away from my wife type, more like the quiet socially awkward type, that makes you wanna re-write the handbook for social interactions because its clearly not in a language he’s comprehending type long stares with almost creepy glares type, yet underneath it all he’s the ridiculously nice type would do anything for anyone type and you wanna punch yourself in the face type for ever thinking anything less of him type.

Anyway, we got to talking and I mean real deep one on one I get to know you you get to know me as one talking and he’s not just nice, but he’s funny, and he’s really smart. Like we were talking everything from Plato, areo, to the ancient pharoahs and I had to rack my brain and dig through my strained thousand dollar education just to try and hold my half of the conversation

And we were laughing and we were interacting, and I started asking about him. And if he had a wife or where was he at in life, cause in his eyes I could see years of strife, and his face was a place without a lot of grace shown to him by those who to quickly condemned him . And he got real serious. And he said, I’m normal really I am, in every way but one. . . . And yeah its sad but these are the facts I’m plagued by panic attacks. . . I can’t hold a job and I can’t finish a class, the hospital bed that’s where I crash 8 times in three years with a heartbeat that tears through my darkest fears and leaves me at the mercy of transitory housing waiting for the day where I wake up and some says “hey its okay” and the goes out of there way to show me a different way. But I’m ok. . . .

He then went on to lay out his days out of this slow decay. He has dreams and one day wants to see his kids beam back at him while his wife leans against him and he’ll just soak it all in. and he talked about community, and settling down in a place where people know your face and care enough to know your case and help you as you face your adversity a place with a lot of diversity. He like my hair, and that I didn’t seem to care even though we both knew he wasn’t 100% there. And I like bobby, because he told me without telling me what it means to live in true community he reminded me that everybody is a somebody and that sometimes you find life’s greatest secret in a place where somebody else keeps it. And you might have to dig, and you might have to live a little outside your normal life but its ok, be surprised feel alive and let someone in a little deeper, and have no fear because in there you’ll see clear that what’s real here is heart to open heart face to face and eyes full of grace is what needs to have a place here in this time and this place so lets go create this place, we’ll call it earth and maybe one day through God’s grace it can be a safe space