As I sit down to write this article, I find myself thinking of all the amazing people we see every day at POM. I realized that in almost every scene there are tears. But it’s not really sadness I feel, rather there is a sense of strength, gratitude, determination and joy! What I’ve learned is that there are many faces of tears.
There are the sad tears of course, but there are also tears of relief. Take “Harry” for example. Harry is a senior who has worked all of his life and never had any trouble making ends meet. He was very proud of that fact and wasn’t shy about telling us he didn’t want welfare. But just under the surface you could see that Harry was afraid. For the first time in his long life, he couldn’t pay the bills. As Harry is getting older, his balance is not what it once was. He found himself tumbling down a short set of stairs where he broke both ankles! In a wheelchair, Harry was temporarily unable to work and his bills were beginning to pile up. Our case workers held his hand and helped him understand that he was not alone; this kind of thing can and does happen to the hardest working people! He began to relax and as we assured him that we could cover his overdue rent and utilities and help make a plan to get him through until he healed. Then the tears started to roll slowly down his cheek. His heavy load had been lifted and he was no longer afraid of managing this alone. Tears of relief.
Sometimes, even though we can’t provide a solid solution to bring about immediate relief, we still see tears of gratitude, even for the simplest of things. “Tessa” is a young mother of two young children. She came in to POM because she had recently found herself homeless. She and her children were living in their car. She struggled to keep them warm at night and presentable for school during the day. And while we couldn’t offer her immediate shelter, we were able to provide her with resources that, even though wait lists can be long, would eventually be able to help. But what we could offer right then and there were showers and laundry. She was so grateful at this simplest of services. She said, “Oh my gosh, really? Oh, I just want to cry!” Maybe she didn’t realize the tears had already welled up and spilled over. Tears of gratitude.
The best kind of tears are tears of joy. We don’t always hear from people when they become successful in attaining stability, and that’s ok! But when we do, we revel in the joy along with them! “June” stopped in after not having been here for over three years. She was in the neighborhood and wanted us to know how great she was doing! She was living in stable, safe housing and had successfully left the abusive relationship that had left her with injury after injury. And, she had a job that paid her a living wage! When she came in, she seemed a little shy to share her good news at first, but eventually we were all laughing, hugging and yes, tears were flowing! Tears of joy!
We know we don’t always see the tears of our clients, whatever kind they are. And, sometimes we have to wait until we are in a quiet place to shed our own tears. But as fellow human beings who all have fears, struggles and joys we can rest in the fact that when we care for one another, cry with one another and pray for each other, the world becomes a better place. We are grateful to you, the community, that supports us, prays for us and maybe even sheds a tear for our neighbors. Thank you!