Sometimes you see or read things that just make you wonder. Not too long ago I read an article in our local paper about a bag lady in a nearby town that was found dead. Apparently she was a well know figure in the town and the paper had a short biography of her life that struck a tragic cord in me.

In her eighties when she died, she’d been a bag lady for over half a century. The daughter of the town’s former police chief she’d had a seemingly good childhood. Pictures of her as a young lady showed she was a pretty and vivacious looking girl. A good student she’d also been well liked, had lots of boyfriends, and reports indicated that she had the normal ambitions that a young woman of that era had.

What happened? We’ll never know but something changed her life and she spent most of her life alone and in poverty eking out an existence as a bag lady. How sad. There is something interesting and poignant in this story such that I can’t seem to put it behind me.

Nor is it the only story that sticks in my mind. For example, one of our local TV stations had a story about an alcoholic derelict discovered living under a local freeway. Curious about the man they did some background checking and fond that he was the product of a local high school where he’d be an excellent student, played varsity sports (even wining an MVP award his senior year), and was voted by his classmates as “most likely to succeed”.

When his story was aired some of his former classmates and friends that had lost touch with him barely recognized him and were shocked at what they saw. Motivated to help they took him into their homes, cleaned him up and got him a good paying job in a sincere effort to help. They made a special effort to visit the man frequently in order to help him adjust.

Interviewed after his cleanup, the man expressed gratitude for the help and stated that his life was now back on track. Yet within a week the man had disappeared again. They eventually found him again living the life of a drunken derelict seemingly oblivious to all the support from his friends.

Yes, it makes you wonder.

Tags: ODD thoughts

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