It was 6:15 on a Wednesday morning. I was almost at the shop, in forty five minutes or so we would be serving Chattanooga’s finest cup of coffee. As I neared the street corner where our shop sat I saw her limping down the sidewalk in front of the government subsidized apartment where she lived at the time. I simply knew her as Mary. What little I knew of her story was sad, to say the least. Tragically abused as a child, word on the street is that her father threw against the wall in a drunken rage when she was just a little girl and as result she was left to suffer with severe impairments, and extreme seizures for the rest of her life.
So there she was early that morning, and for a brief second I looked away only to be startled by the sound of a massive thud. I immediately realized that Mary had disappeared from sight, until I saw her frail body lying directly across the street from me. I ran to her to find that she was alive but something was terribly wrong, she wasn’t responding to me at all. I ran quickly to the store to call 911, and within seconds they were on the scene As I ran back outside Mary was up walking around but she was severley disoriented walking aimlessly in the middle of the street as the flashing lights of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances surrounded her.
I’ll never forget the fear on her face as i tried to get her back to the sidewalk The EMTs began to talk to her and I knew she was in good hands. Apparently she had suffered a “grandma seizure.”
I see Mary just abouut everyday. You see she’s been evicted from her government subsidized apartment, so she sleeps in the doorway just down the sidewalk from the coffee shop where I work. Her address is a wooden bench, and her small bag of belongings sits just underneath. She’s had several walkers, to give her mobility, but they are always stolen from her.
I spent a little time talking to Mary today. She has one pair of clothes, stained with her own bodily fluids She asked me if I could help her find a pair of socks. She dreams of a bath, or at least a bar of soap she can use to clean up in a public restroom downtown.
Tonight as I lay my head on my soft pillow I see Mary’s face Its burned into my mind. Tonight my prayer is that I will not sleep comfortably in my bed until she sleeps comfortably in hers.
I don’t really know how to help Mary, but I’m praying for wisdom and direction. I just know this . . . I can’t ignore her any more.
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she’s going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that’s tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
-Casting Crowns
