Come Before Winter – Chapter Sixteen – City Sidewalks
December 16th, 2021
2 Timothy 4:21, “Do your utmost to come before winter.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN – City Sidewalks
Mercy was so awed by the mega-city she couldn’t help but gawk. Her town, as she thought of it, had been nothing like this. She’d never ventured too far from its town limits, so city life was a foreign country to her almost. She remembered nothing of Denver from her childhood. The autumn beauty was breathtaking as were mountains that seemed to grow out of the ground and lose their peaks buried in clouds and to beyond, the crystal blue sky. She’d waited ‘til September to come, and now hoped she hadn’t made a mistake by waiting so long. On many mornings, smoke poured from chimneys, and she could see her breath as she started learning her way around.
She had been fortunate to save a nice chunk of money from her job at the coffee shop and intended to not look for work right away until she saw what lay ahead. Who knew if she’d find anyone at all and would she even stay if she found her family? Would they even want her…they hadn’t before; why would they now, resounded in her head. The unknown was the most costly of all, and not in monetary terms either. Accustomed to hostel life, she wasn’t ashamed to start there once she got her bearings, and although a furnished room cost more for one week in this city than it had in her hometown for almost a month, it was cozy and convenient.
It took her a minute to acclimate to the altitude, and when the first snow fell, she joined the hype along with the rest of the population. It was like they were all a part of a great movement, collectively oohing and ahhing as they anticipated the forecasted winter just around the corner. It was a fast-moving storm, and put down very little snow, but it sure was cold for one day longer than the anticipated frenzy lasted, and just long enough for Mercy to realize this girl needed some cold weather clothes. It was fun to pick out a fleece-lined jacket and fur-lined boots and find a few sweaters at a Goodwill store downtown. It was just as fun however to wake up several days later to what she was told was the arrival of Indian-summer, and to shimmy back into a pair of shorts and a flannel shirt.
Mercy admitted she was just wasting precious time, and so on the third day of Indian-summer, she set out for the address Human Services had listed as the residence she had been rescued from as a child. She had been putting off the inevitable, and the dread festering in her gut was indicative of why she had avoided this trip altogether. What would she find there? Who would she find there? Would she be strong enough to face whatever demons lurked behind the walls of what had once been home to her? To say the least, she wasn’t eager to see.
In the end, it hadn’t mattered at all that she had put it off, nor would it have meant anything had she gone immediately upon her arrival to Denver. The address where she’d lived as a baby no longer existed, and in its place, a facility offering a variety of continuum care for assisted living and rehabilitation services as well as senior and independent living spanned several blocks. To say she was devastated would have been about right. True, she dreaded what she’d find but she surely hadn’t expected this! That the place she was told had been her home for the first fistful of years was demolished and replaced with ‘independent housing options’ for a variety of ages and conditions when she had no independent or housing options herself was more than Mercy could comprehend.
She stood there for long moments on the opposite side of the wrought iron fence, staring at the final dance of summer tiptoe across the lawn and the circle of people gathered in a gay gazebo, intent on their conversation. She felt crushed, wrecked, wasted. For the second time in about a week, Mercy collapsed in a heap, as she fought back the wail that stuck in her throat.
‘Dear, are you alright?’ Mercy was stunned and embarrassed to raise her head, guilty at her weakness.
Peeking from the corner of her eye and through her bangs, she mumbled, ‘Yes ma’am. Thank you for checking.’ How in the world would she ever explain to a complete stranger what she had found herself in the midst of? Why, she couldn’t even really wrap words around it for herself and Patsy to decipher!
‘Well, my name is Gwen, and I am always available to help anyone. Here, take my card in case you want to chat. And, hey, I have a marvelous shoppe downtown, called The Giver, and I can be found there unless I am here. Stop in; I’ll make you a treat you won’t forget. You sure you’re ok, dear?’ Mercy slowly nodded her head, the sting of tears burning her eyes. She was pretty certain at this dead-end location, she’d just made her first friend.
Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (NIV)
To Be Continued…
