Ross Gave $300 to the Drug Addict...

  

Beethoven's Fifth is playing on the radio... and I have a glass of wine near my lap top... I was reading... and then I came across to an item which captured my imagination and took me few years back... Ross, my friend and the chaplain of the last school where I was teaching, wanted me to meet a former student... I did not know him... He was way before my arrival... But he warned me... that the guy is a juvenile delinquent... He is a druggy... and to satisfy his drug habit... He was been in fights and he has survived by stealing... He has been in and out of jail several times... I was very much surprised and apprehensive... I was hesitating... and Ross noticed that...
"He is a very ice guy... You will like him...," Ross encouraged me.
So after few minutes of ambivalence and hesitation I agreed...
Next day after school I drove Ross to a diner in the downtown core... It was Friday and it was okay... 
The guy was in his late twenties... He definitely knew how to charm people by his conversation... and he had an enticing, very inviting laugh... He swore like the rats in the gutter... and he promised Ross that he will commit himself to rehab and cure himself... He was serious, but I had misgivings... I doubted him... He told us that he had incurred debts and he had no job.
At the end of the dinner, to my great surprise, Ross gave him $300 for groceries and the rest... 
The guy took the money... Hugged Ross... He noticed that I was not that eager to hug... goodbyed me and walked out of the diner... 
We stayed there for few more minutes... Paid the bill and headed to a familiar place for a nightcap... Just Ross and I...
We asked for brandy...
"I know that he is cheating me...," said Ross. He was serious and sad too... "But I hope that he will change... I am his only hope.
I know that he takes advantage of me... But I cannot stop trying... Trying is ALL I have...," Ross stopped for a sip...
"But that's lots of money...," I objected.
"This is not the first time and it will not be the last...," Ross sighed... "But tell me if I should turn my back to him... The world has rejected him already...," Ross sipped and sighed...
Ross had a point... he had done the "math without numbers..." He was the only life-line left for the guy... 
I did not know what to say...
We had another glass of brandy... and then spiked coffee... 
I drove him home... and continued my way yo mine...
I did not think about the guy... Ross had overwhelmed my thoughts and he stayed with me all along my drive to home...

***

I never wanted to write about this incident... But the item that I read in the morning brought Ross and the guy and our encounter all back... I remembered all and decided to write... 

Because... Read below...

Carlos Adrian Vazquez Jr. is a convicted juvenile.  When he was convicted, he lost the will to live at age 16 as he began serving an 11-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. he was scarred and did not have much to live for...  Carlos Adrian Vazquez Jr. with his parents, Carlos Vazquez and Adriana Garcia, who have visited him every Sunday at a juvenile jail since the youth’s arrest 2 years and 5 months ago. *** Then he wrote a letter to Pope Francis. "I asked for forgiveness for what I did." Vazquez told... Vazquez wrote; “If only the world were filled with more love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy. Being an outcast of society, I want the world to see us for who we truly are; human beings, who make mistakes like everybody else. But we are able to rise again like a Phoenix,” the youth wrote the Pope. “I will become a leader some day, like Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai. Thank you for your loving and your merciful example to all of us.” To his surprise, the Pontiff wrote back. "Dear Carlos," the Pope wrote, "May the peace of Jesus Christ be with you! I was pleased to receive your recent letter. I pray that as you and your fellow residents celebrate the opening of the Holy Door, you may receive these gifts and be filled with peace and hope,” the Pope wrote. “Know that the Holy Father is thinking of you and praying for you. And please remember to pray for me, because I greatly need your prayers.” The youth was stunned. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't think the Pope would write to someone who's behind bars," said Vazquez, now 18. The Pope's letter continued. He spoke of "a Holy Door to Mercy" being opened at the juvenile jail, in a ceremony led by the Los Angeles archbishop. "I pray that as you and your fellow residents celebrate the opening of the Holy Door, you may receive these gifts and be filled with peace and hope," the Pope wrote. "Know that the Holy Father is thinking of you and praying for you. And please remember to pray for me, because I greatly need your prayers."

I read about the letter of the Pope... and my thoughts went back to Ross and his $300... and I remembered...

"I am his only hope...," Ross told me... and then we went for a night cap... brandy... and spiked coffee...

Ross was a good man... he was a mathematician, albeit... without numbers... above all, he was a good friend... and a saint...too.