How Did This Happen?.......

A lot of people wonder.....how did I get here? Here....being the condition known as homelessness. Hungry, cold alone.

Why am i writing this, I ask myself. Then I remember.....oh......to keep my sanity! There are days that are good.....relatively. Then there are days that are bad....really bad.

I remember a time, not long ago, when I was doing really well for myself. Good government job. Nice apartment/condo. Nice car, good food, nice lifestyle.

Then the job left me, result of an assessment of the needs in the agency that I was employed with, found that my position, as well as approximately 100 others, was no longer needed. In actuality, we all found out later that the positions were needed, but in order to avoid a class action lawsuit, they had to get rid of us in a rather clandestine way.....and still make it look good.

We all lost out. So many affected. So many lives disrupted.

As a result, I personally, lost my place. Lost my car. You would think in the Nation's capital that something like this would or should not happen. Not the case. After numerous attempts to find other employment, (still trying, searching daily) I lost everything. I was bitter for a while, but then reality set in, and I realized that I have to survive now. I've been homeless before, so it wasn't such a blow this time.

It's disconcerting to see, once again in the Nation's capital, so many affected by the economy. The working and living poor I call them. So many just a step away from poverty. I consider myself fortunate that I know how to survive. But it's tough. A daily battle.

Daily, there's the struggle of where you will sleep, eat, bathe. Things that when you have, you take for granted. I cry daily for those that cannot help themselves. But then I realize, that I am just a step away from that. The only thing that separates me from them is that, my survival instincts have saved the day.

I've been hungry for two days now. It's a struggle, especially without a vehicle to get up, from whereever you slept the night before, and make it to a place that serves food for the poor. For the last two nights, I could not make it to the place that I go to in time before they stopped serving. So....I went hungry. I made it today, phew! Thank you!

To be continued.......a day in the life.