Marigold
At our church, homeless folk sleeping on our doorstep is a regular, if not a daily occurrence. There is this particular couple that are regulars. I got to know their names. Once we invited them to a night of music entertainment at our church and to our surprised they showed all dressed up and sober. They didn’t stay long but we appreciated the gesture, knowing it must have taken a lot of confidence and planning to show up among a bunch of strangers whilst in the clutches of drug addiction.
Every now and then, I encounter them when I show up at my office at 8 am. We have an understanding that they need to be gone by 8 am. They are right in our doorway after all. But sometimes after what I assume was a rough night, they are still vast asleep at 8 am. I find these encounters very awkward. It is like walking in on someone who is taking a shower. The woman, lets call her Marigold, has in time kindled my interest. It is the way she lovingly tends to her boyfriend even when just waking up still in a haze. There is this gentleness in her demeanour that stayed with me. Some of the addicted folk leave quite a mess for me that I need to clean up when I get there. Needles, condoms and what not. Marigold always cleans up well. Once she cleaned up another mess that wasn’t even their doing.
Marigold looked about 45 to me. Because she is always with this male companion and always in a kind of hazy state when I encounter her, our conversations are always brief and about mundane practical subjects like the weather. It frustrated me that I can always just skim the surface with this person who is obviously not in a good place. It’s been the story for nearly six months now. That is until today…
You see, when I left the church at 2pm and opened the door, it bumped against a person sitting in front of it. It was Marigold. She sat on the cement alone and was shivering. As always, she was very apologetic and courteous. She said she is sorry and didn’t know that I was still there. I told her its ok and that I am about to leave anyway.
Recently I sold my Honda motorcycle. It was partly because it reached a stage where I would have to spend money on tires and maintenance stuff and partly in preparations for some financial woes because my wife was unable to practice as a physiotherapist for some time. Then on Saturday, I really came across a real bargain on a Kawasaki Versys 650. It is a smaller but fun bike with very few kilo’s at a very good price and I was lucky enough to be first in line for it, so I took the plunge and bought it.
Marigold said to me that she noticed that I have a new bike. “Do you like bikes?” I asked her. “Kind off”, she replied. “I like Kawasaki’s because my dad used to have one and took me on rides”. I asked about where she grew up and her dad. She told me that he was a truck driver and that they lived all over Ontario and British Columbia. I asked her where her male companion was. She told me that they broke up as tears welled up in her eyes. At that moment, a friend of mine who happened to decide to work from our church, instead of home today, happen to come outside. I introduced Marigold to him and tried to continue the conversation. I cannot remember exactly how but eventually she told us that she thinks it is time to get clean. She told us what she used. Fentanyl and heroine. I always dread when I hear that last word. Heroine is an evil substance and very addictive. I asked her what her age was. She is 32, not 45. My friend, who himself left a life of drugs many moons ago, asked her when her addiction started. She said it was 4 years ago, just after her father died. She said she thinks it is that event in combination with many others that threw her down the abyss.
This is how it goes. You show up for six months and absolutely nothing happens. And then one idle Wednesday the window you wished for months opens wide up in just ten minutes. We told her about the NA group that gathers at our church on Saturday evenings. When my friend told her it is possible to come clean she said that she knows.
Please pray for her. God knows her real name.
Gabriel J Snyman
May 20th 2020