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| I
guess you could say I was pretty depressed at this point - four years of
college only to find myself working for Walmart as a greeter, owner of
two suburban lots and the potential for building a home that was now
just a past dream. I had been living in a car and three months in a
motel room. What happened to all that effort? |
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| My initial
move to Strongsville, Ohio was not to an apartment, but to a motel
called the Days Inn on Pearl Road - I was still homeless. United Church
of Christ First Church of Berea's deacon had arranged with St. Mary's in
the same suburb to provide funds for temporary housing as cold weather
approached. I'd ride in the deacon's car on Pearl Road along a stretch
where there were small hotels built in the 1950's. I knew some had bad
reputations or were fire hazards like Murphy's Inn - it eventually did
burn to the ground. I needed to be someplace that didn't have high curbs
making it impossible to maneuver my wheelchair from car to unit, and
preferred one that was close by my job as a part time greeter at
Strongsville WalMart, and on the same side of the street. The idea being
I didn't want to go against traffic in turning out of the place in
getting to work - thus saving lots of time enabling me to get to work a
little later and still be on time. Days Inn fit the bill! For three
months the Catholic Church paid for my stay in a large room with a
bathroom, a color tv set with limited basic cable, and a cube-size
refrigerator and a table. The bed was queen-sized and the place had a
coin-operated laundry room with vending machines. The manager was a nice
middle-aged Asian Indian man who was familiar with me, having shopped at
(who hasn't) WalMart in Strongsville. During the week, I was one of the
few people actually renting a room - however on weekends, it was a
different story. The lot would be full of men with overnight dates or
some who traveled great distances for their businesses. It was a squat
"U"-shaped two-story basically stark but nice building.
I pretty much carried
everything in my car that I had with me when I camped out at Mark and
Mary's place in North Royalton. It was nice to have air-conditioning
when it was hot and heat when it was cold - and I got to like the staff
there. However, being homeless was still a nightmare - I knew I wouldn't
be shacked-up here for long - but I was and still am appreciative for
the time I was allowed to stay there. And if I could, I would have loved
to live there - it was simple, but it was livable - and housekeeping
kept it pretty clean. |
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