Friends are such a blessing

Thursday was a great night with Breaking Chains.  Everything went as planned and afterwards I spent a long time talking with Jenny and Cesar, but more on that in a minute.  I'm currently working on some fundraising material so I had told Darwin I wanted to get some unsuspecting shots of the guys walking up or sitting around huffing, something a little more realistic than the ear to ear grins I get when I pull out the camera.  So I go about feeding and Darwin has the camera.  I really wasn't paying too much attention to him.  What I ended up with were ear to ear grins with a bottle in front of them.  Darwin was going up to the guys and telling them to huff so we could take their picture, NOT what I had in mind.  But at least he tried.  I love this first picture.  By this point they were just being ridiculous and really just having a good time.  It warms my heart to see them laughing a smiling.

This is Marvin and this is an unposed picture.  Marvin used to be the sweetest guy.  He was real together most of the time even though he was huffing and a joy to be around.  Then a few months ago he was attacked, I'm not sure of the details but he had some severe head trauma and a broken jaw.  At first he couldn't communicate at all and could barely walk.  He's slowly getting his cognition back but I fear his quick wit and friendly personality are long gone.  It's so sad to see what little they have be taken from them, especially when it's not a material possession.

And this is Alan. Alan is blind because as a teenager he was shot in the head.  He has scars where the bullet entered one side of his head and came out the other. According to some of the others at the stadium he is from a really wealthy family that abandoned him after the accident.  Alan is a favorite of everyone.  He's a sweetheart and is always cracking jokes.

Thursday as we were finishing up at the park Jenny came up so we sat down on the tailgate and talked for a long time about her life.  She is 16 years old and the mother of 2 year old Dulce.  Her mom left her with her step-dad as a baby and at 8 years old her step dad abandoned her as well.  Since then she has spent time in a couple of different children's homes and spent some time in jail for theft.  In the past year that I've known her she's lived in 4 different places and spent some time on the streets.  She just stays wherever she can find a spot.  Jenny definitely tugs at my heart strings and pushes me to do think outside the box for ways to help everyone we encounter.  Cesar, the guy on my right in the picture, has come a couple of times and is very loving and appreciative of everything we do.  He, as well as many that we work with, asks me regularly "You're my friend right?" I of course say yes to which he always responds "I'm your friend too".  Cesar is another of the guys that has taken to calling me mom.  The guy on the ground came that one night and I haven't seen him before or since but he sat and listened to our conversations then jumped in the picture.  He seems like a sweet guy and I hope that we can continue to reach out to him.