Connie never imagined life would take the turn that it did.
“I never wanted to be on the street,” she said as she wiped away a tear with her dirty hand. She was sitting on a curb underneath an overpass, a few feet away from her tent. “I just want to take a shower.”
She had approached the film crew when they were staging a scene with Daniel next to a brick wall across the street from her squat.
“Are you pretending to be one of us?” she asked incredulously, her stringy hair cascading down her shoulders. “You just make sure you stay on this street. Stay away from those people over there,” she pointed across the busy road, “and the people on the other streets. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you kids.”
I followed Connie over to her tent, making chit-chat as she showed me the kitten that she kept with her at all times. She said that she had a problem with the shelters in Portland because they would not allow her to take the cat with her.
“He helps me with my mental issues,” she explained, stroking the soft kitten fur. “It’s not fair to discriminate against my cat!” Her eyes went in and out of focus as if she was thinking hard about something. She fed the kitten a piece of beef jerky, caring for it like a mother would a baby.
According to Connie, her husband, Chico, has pancreatic cancer and doesn’t have much longer to live. He was across the street, keeping warm by a barrel fire with other homeless men. He ambled over to the tent, asking his wife for his slippers and giving her a quick kiss when she gave them to him.
Chico’s dream is to go to Hawaii. He wants to spend a day on the warm beach before he dies. Unless a miracle happens, his dream will never be realized. It will be a lifetime before either one of them can scrape together money for any kind of plane ticket. Connie cries when she thinks about her husband passing away. She’ll be alone with her cat and her mental problems. Life does not look like it will become easier any time soon. Her story is not a happy one but it isn’t over…yet.
“I never wanted to be on the street,” she said as she wiped away a tear with her dirty hand. She was sitting on a curb underneath an overpass, a few feet away from her tent. “I just want to take a shower.”
She had approached the film crew when they were staging a scene with Daniel next to a brick wall across the street from her squat.
“Are you pretending to be one of us?” she asked incredulously, her stringy hair cascading down her shoulders. “You just make sure you stay on this street. Stay away from those people over there,” she pointed across the busy road, “and the people on the other streets. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you kids.”
I followed Connie over to her tent, making chit-chat as she showed me the kitten that she kept with her at all times. She said that she had a problem with the shelters in Portland because they would not allow her to take the cat with her.
“He helps me with my mental issues,” she explained, stroking the soft kitten fur. “It’s not fair to discriminate against my cat!” Her eyes went in and out of focus as if she was thinking hard about something. She fed the kitten a piece of beef jerky, caring for it like a mother would a baby.
According to Connie, her husband, Chico, has pancreatic cancer and doesn’t have much longer to live. He was across the street, keeping warm by a barrel fire with other homeless men. He ambled over to the tent, asking his wife for his slippers and giving her a quick kiss when she gave them to him.
Chico’s dream is to go to Hawaii. He wants to spend a day on the warm beach before he dies. Unless a miracle happens, his dream will never be realized. It will be a lifetime before either one of them can scrape together money for any kind of plane ticket. Connie cries when she thinks about her husband passing away. She’ll be alone with her cat and her mental problems. Life does not look like it will become easier any time soon. Her story is not a happy one but it isn’t over…yet.
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