This is something I wrote when I was shooting Red Dawn in late fall of 2009. This man’s story really moved me and I just wanted to share it...
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| Detroit, Michigan |
I was unusually late for work today.
I’m almost never late. As a matter of fact, if I have a 5:00pm pickup, I’ll be there at most by 4:30pm just to be safe.
But it was 5:05pm, and I was late.
The first van had already taken off. When I got downstairs I threw my bag into the second van and jumped in. Myself and the driver sat for another ten minutes to see if anyone else would join us, but then I realized that all seven of the other guys had squeezed into that first van. So we were off, just me all by my lonesome in the van with just my driver.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. He coasted through the Detroit rush hour traffic as I scurried through my things for work. Amongst my fumbling about, I pulled out my little prayer book to take a moment to collect my thoughts before the workday. The quiet was then broken by, “I got my first paycheck in four years today.”
It took a second to register what I had just heard. In a flash I thought about the rate of unemployment in Detroit and how this city’s been overlooked and left to wallow in its jobless decline. Once all of this processed, I was fascinated by the optimism of this statement and proceeded to talk with my driver. Little did I know that the conversation to follow would be one of the most unexpected moments of enlightenment of 2009.
His name’s Jim, and he’s had quite a challenging past few years. Since 9-11, misfortunate has plagued this guy. It all started with his family business of 53 years being shut down because of economic hardship. Following that, his marriage of 30 years ended in divorce.
These events tore his spirits apart, and it took him years to muster up the courage to move forward. When he was finally ready, he fell deeply for someone. He was seeing her for about a year and a half, but one night she was killed in a terrible car accident. Knocked down again. But he continued to look forward. He’s been seeing his current girlfriend for about a year now, and they’re doing well. Sadly, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have both of her breasts removed.
It sounds unearthly the trials this man has had to deal with. I listened intently as I connected with him through the rear-view mirror. I could feel his heart wrenching with each blush of red flushing through his face, his eyes becoming glassy with each tale.
But there was something else I saw that I didn’t expect to see: an unyielding amount of hope, optimism, and lots of faith. It seemed like no matter what this world threw his way, he looked upward and pressed forward. Never did it sound like he was bitter or blaming anyone.
When he told me the story of the deconstruction of his family’s business, he also mentioned that amidst all the financial withdrawals he had to make to try to salvage the shop (pulling out his entire life savings) he saved enough to put both of his children through college.
When he discussed the tremendous pain of his marriage dissolving, he reminded me that though the gravity of the breakup weighed down on him, he eventually rose out of the situation with a great friendship and the experience of an enriching relationship.
When he recounted with great difficulty the loss of his girlfriend in the car accident, his crumbled voice gathered enough strength to lightly murmur, “At least I met my soulmate.”
And when he informed me of his current girlfriend’s anguishing surgery, he told me that he still adores her with the same devoted eyes and that she’s absolutely beautiful to him.
He’s proud to have been able to see his children graduate with his hard-earned financial support. He’s thankful that he still has a life’s friend in his ex-wife. He appreciates his spirituality through the blessing of being able to know his soulmate. He loves his girlfriend unconditionally, no matter what the circumstances.
“I could have died a thousand times,” he said. “I might have never seen what I saw or went through the pain of half of those experiences.”
“But there’s someone up there watching me. Someone cares about me. God wouldn’t have challenged me if He didn’t think I could handle it. There’s a reason for everything, and I’m thankful to know that.”
In that moment, when I looked at his eyes through the rear-view mirror and saw him opening up his heart to me, I felt my own heart. The feeling of love, gratitude, pride, and spiritual connection resonated throughout my entire body.
I experienced a prayer of thanksgiving without even having to crack open my little prayer book.
