August 12, 2012 ~ An update to our homeless veteran, Eugene Pottinger. So this afternoon I stopped to ask a few additional questions. Primarily to find out if he had identification on him so that we can move forward with getting him home to San Diego, CA. I found out that he has his social security card and that's all. This could be a little of a challenge as most places want a picture id and I am not sure that we can get him an ID card without a birth certificate. I told him that I am working to get him back home and how does he prefer to go... by plane or bus. He didn't want to go by plane and said a bus would be great. It would be a 2 day travel with 3 transfers. I then asked him if he had someone who could pick him up and he said his wife would pick him up. I asked him how he specifically got to Columbia, MO (or rather Midway) and he said he was working in North Carolina and got laid off and caught a ride here. I told him I would check into everything tomorrow morning and meet him to give him the information I find out.
I decided that he needed to have a good night's rest before traveling as he probably hasn't had a good night's rest in awhile. I purchased a room at Midway's Budget Inn and for $35.67 and now he has a room for the night. The gentleman and woman that were running the front desk were super nice and said that he sits in the restaurant every night and doesn't bother anyone but is very friendly. I went back and told Eugene that I paid for a room for the night and I put it under his first name since I didn't know his last name. He then told me his last name was Pottinger. He was very happy and shook my hand and was headed to the hotel just now.
Tomorrow hopefully (after talking to the supervisor at Greyhound here in Columbia) we can successfully get him on the road.... one step closer to home!
Thank you all for the private messages willing to help out with getting Eugene home. There have been so many from people I don't even know to my close friends asking what we can do. You all have willing hearts and helping hands that make our community so unique. I truly can't express how happy my heart is knowing we are a step closer to helping this man get back home to be reunited with his family. Keep your fingers crossed the supervisor figures out a way to get him on the bus with just a social security card!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
A homeless vet named Eugene....
August 11, 2012 ~ I have lived in Midway almost my entire life. We moved into a home mom and dad built on my 3rd birthday. For the past 33 years I have rode or drove past this site everyday and often times several times a day. This is the 121 exit for Midway and is also known as the Fayette exit. If you are traveling from Stadium exit towards Kansas City and take the Fayette (Midway) exit and look over to your left this is what I have seen for nearly 4-5 weeks.
This man has endured extreme temperatures with no shelter, no shade every single day for over a month. He does not bother anyone and really is the wrong place to be panhandling or looking for a ride. I have rarely ever seen him stand but rather sit upon his duffel bag and looking down at the ground. Upon many occasions I have seen him writing on a pad of paper or in a journal. He always made me wonder what his story was and not until yesterday did I find out.
I decided to stop, roll down my window and ask him a few questions. (I did give him $11.00 which was all the cash I had on me as he approached my window) I told him that for many weeks I have seen him sitting out here never bothering anyone and yet wondered why he was here. He said his name was Eugene and that he was a homeless Veteran. He had served in Vietnam and he was looking for work to try to get back home. I asked him where home was and he said San Diego, CA. He said that he tries not to be a bother to anyone and all of the homeless shelters are completely full since we have had such high temperatures and he had inquired about the Veterans Hospital and they had nothing either. He said that doesn't leave him much of a choice but to stay there which is probably the best place because we have the truck stop close by. I promised him that I would make a few phone calls and I would stop back by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. He was very kind, respectful and always looked me in the eyes while talking. You could tell that he truly was really trying not to be a bother and was determined to make it back home one day. He said that he found employment for about a week helping to mow lawns but as many of you know everything is burnt up and there isn't any yards to really be mowed. I told him I think things are going to get cooler which will be nice and he said "please don't say that, I'm ok with the warm weather ma'am" I realized that he didn't have a lot of blankets for cool nights. I had to ask one more question before pulling away.... I wanted to know what he was writing? He said that he writes stories about people he meets, poems, songs and things about life. I bet if you were to set and read some of these we would all realize that our life isn't as bad as we sometimes think it is.... that we are fortunate to have a roof over our head and food on the table where this man who has fought for our country has nothing. He did not smell of alcohol. Rather he was very weathered from being out in 105+ degree weather for the last 5-7 weeks all day long each and every day.
As I pulled away I couldn't help but think about him. I normally would never pull my car over to a total stranger like that however I wasn't scared. I wanted to know more about this man. This isn't the end of the story. This is just the beginning. I will post more when I talk to him again tomorrow or Tuesday. Until then, I don't promote stopping to hitchhikers, panhandlers, etc. but rather to just take a moment to think about others.... you don't know their story but rather often times just "assume" or judge others by their looks, color of their skin, or their disabilities.
I ask anyone that reads this that will be traveling through Midway and see his man sitting quietly at the exit to please give two honks of your horn to let him know you care. I told him as I was leaving that I have a blog and wanted to write about him. In return I would ask everyone that read this to give 2 little honks of their horn....No need to stop and give him anything.... just a little sign to let him know you care. Thanks!
Through My Eyes
By Brian Chenier
You don’t know me or what I’ve done
You don’t care where I’m from
So I have a question for you
Why do you judge me the way you do?
I wonder what it is you see
Every day as you pass by me
What’s on your mind, and in you head
Looking at me on my cardboard bed
All I have left in this world is here.
But all you see are the cans of beer
You try not to look or stare
But I see your eyes, I see the glare
The disgust I see it in your face
As if it’s me that’s a disgrace.
But if you knew what I’d done
That look might be a different one
You go to work all clean and shaved
On a street of gold that’s nicely paved
But you have sent me off to fight
Without a care for my future plight.
The drugs and beer, the homelessness
The disheveled look and the tiredness
None of that is a choice I’ve made
I was a soldier of the highest grade
You don’t see that, you don’t care
Why should you, life isn’t fair
I don’t want pity, especially yours
But spare a thought for those that fight your wars.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
A little fender bender!
August 9, 2012 ~ Well I was on my way to have lunch with some of our awesome Greater Missouri Leadership gals when I was detoured. As I was traveling down Providence Road toward Broadway I felt a huge bump and saw black flying all around. I was hit by a little Nissan Altima. I pulled over (I was at the part where you get in the left turn lane to turn onto Broadway) and walked over to the parking lot where he and his daughter parked. I asked him where he came from.... as in where did your car come from because you came from out of no where. He said "I am from Malaysia and I just got here today". I thought "Oh my goodness.... here we go!" So before we went much further I wanted to get his statement to see what happened in his eyes. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong as I had been in the same lane since crossing over Business Loop. He just kept saying "I'm sorry about your car" then he really threw me for a loop.... he said "Ma'am can I have my mirror back" I had to fight back the laughter .... Of course that is your mirror wedged in between my hood and fender!
1. He just flew into Columbia Regional Airport from Malaysia and was dropped off at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
2. He had just left Enterprise and hit me within the first block.
3.His daughter told him to drive it around in a nearby parking lot to make sure he was familiar with the care before heading out on the road.
4. His GPS said to turn here. So he did.
5. He was enrolling/dropping off his daughter to MU.
6. He was leaving town on Monday.
7. He took out insurance on the car he was driving to cover damage to that car but did not take out the liability coverage to cover anyone elses car. (Let's see how this pans out)
8. He couldn't figure out how to start the car and the police officer started it for him (push button start).
9. When he got back to Enterprise he asked for a smaller car to drive.
10. He was super nice and easy to understand. (Thank goodness!)
When he went to talk to the policeman his daughter was asking me about the locals here (that sounded funny.... the locals) and what they do. I explained that luckily she wouldn't have to drive anywhere near campus as our downtown area was vibrant and a fun atmosphere with live music at many of the bars/restaurants. I also told her there was lots of art stuff in the district and fun shops. Her eyes lit up when I talked about the bars.... Oh goodness.... this girl is gonna have fun in Columbia, MO while daddy is away!
This was my favorite part... he was worried about getting his mirror back and finally he went to take it off. I was so hard not to laugh... bless his heart! Through this whole deal I couldn't be mad. I thought this poor guy was trying to get his daughter enrolled in school and just didn't have a clue. He was so nice and kept apologizing to me. I guess as I am getting older I realize that "it" happens and we need to worry about the big stuff not the small stuff. This is a material thing that can be fixed and no one was injured in the process. I sure hope he travels safe during the rest of his time here..... and I hope to stay far far away!
A little trip to Illinois!
August 5, 2012 ~ Some of our good friends, Josh & Roni Spicer, own a restaurant in Huntsville, MO called Don's Family Style Restaurant and this is somewhere we frequent on the weekends to spend time with them. Josh recently sold his old truck and the new owner wanted to meet him in Mount Vernon, Illinois. So after they closed their restaurant for the day we met them in Columbia and headed out on the road around 6:30 pm. The trip there seemed to go pretty fast as us girls were chatting about life, work, etc. while we followed the boys. We met at a gas station and he signed his truck over! I think he was a little sad (he loved that truck) but when someone wanted to buy it well, he sold it!
On the way back we were starving so we stopped by a little place called, 54th Street Grill & Bar. We were worried they might be closed as it was 11:00 pm and everything else was closing but they were open! It reminded me of a TGI Friday's with all the memorabilia and the food was really good! The boys got a hamburger with a fried egg on it! For whatever reason our waiter asked what brought us here (my first thought was my momma) but I said that we just jumped in the car and wanted to try something new and different. (Really Michele??) He looked at me as if to think is this girl for real or is she just kidding.... Then while we were waiting for our food another waitress comes around inspecting the tables with a flash light. Weird. So while Inspector Clue-so was working over the tables (which I will say this place had some clean tables) our food came! Shew.... I was getting hungry and the No Gringo chips and dip wasn't cutting it anymore! After we ate our waiter asked if we wanted to-go cups... I immediately pipe up and say "No, we don't have cup holders in our VW Bug" (Seriously.... we weren't in a VW Bug!) We made it back home by 1:30 am which was going to make Monday be super long! Oh well.... it was fun and we would probably do it again! It's always an adventure no matter where we go!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
"Ninth Street"
August 4, 2012 ~ As many of you know I love painting at a place called "The Canvas on Broadway" here in Columbia, MO. It is a great place to paint (acrylic) with friends while being taught step-by-step. I have gone 6 or 7 times now and wanted to try a painting of "Ninth Street" which features hot spots on Ninth Street in Columbia, MO. Tonight a friend, Shannon Patterson had arranged for her sister, Ashlea Vanderwalker and Kristi Spotts to go so I invited myself to tag along for the 6:30 pm class!
It was a very detailed / focused painting and although I did feel rushed (they had another class at 9:30 pm) it was fun! It's amazing to think that you can't even paint a stick figure let alone a great piece of artwork that you can actually be proud of! I did take it home and finish it this morning.....
A finished piece! It was fun hanging out with the girls and I am always ready to go back..... see ya at The Canvas on Broadway!
A visit from an old friend....
August 4, 2012 ~ After working all day in the office, Brandon and I were trying to decide what to do for dinner. We look up and at our window is a yellow butterfly going crazy as if to get our attention. I grabbed my cell phone to try and take a quick picture as it was fluttering all around. I was able to capture a few pictures and this one was as vivid as I could get.
My best friend's Grandma Lou Hathman passed away July 25, 2011. Grandma Lou was really special to Misty and would religiously come to our garage sales each year. I always loved to see her and Aunt Judy Blacklock pull up to go "shopping" for their booths at a flea market. Somehow they managed to fill their cars full at our sale! She would drive over to see Misty every Thursday after getting her hair done because Misty has a daycare in her home and couldn't get out and about as often. She hadn't came to see Misty and the kids and wouldn't answer her cell phone so Misty and the kids drove to her house to check on her. She wasn't alarmed because many times she would loose her cell phone or misplace it and Misty would find it and put it back on the charger for her. When Grandma Lou suddenly passed away Misty is the one that found her.
Misty and her 2 kids, Olivia and Mikel, were getting ready to go to town on the Monday after her funeral on Friday. A beautiful butterfly came out of no where and circled Misty then each of the kids and flew away. There were several other instances were a butterfly came to visit Misty and she couldn't help but think it was Grandma Lou. (It's kind of the same way we think of Grandma Ruby and hummingbirds) Believe what you will, but I think random things like this happen to remind you that your loved ones are gone but never forgotten..... Thank you Grandma Lou for your surprise visit! I love and miss you too!
Mattie & Bailey .... A Working Saturday!
August 4, 2012 ~ After having a fun birthday week I really didn't get much accomplished in the way of work so while Brandon got up to go work on the barn the girls and I went to the shop to get caught up on paperwork! I needed to get billing done but more specifically I am getting things ready for an audit... YUCK! (The State of Missouri wants to do a "Sales Use Audit" to ensure that we are paying sales tax and want to look through everything over the last 5 years. It is a huge pain in the rump but it has to get done and I am not worried about it at all. It's more of an inconvenience than anything as I still have a business to run while locating all of the documentation they need.)
Anyway.... it was so boring that the girls kept looking at me like "Are you serious this is how we are going to spend our Saturday together?" (Mattie is a Min Pin and is 14 years old. Bailey is a Beagle Mix and is 10 years old.)
I caught them both snoring like a freight train... but only had my camera close by to capture Bailey girl! They both can't hear when you tell them things like to go outside and go potty but they sure hear a bag rattling or smell food a mile away! Love these babies!
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