I Remember Martha

Recalling the loneliness and despair of his past life, a man from a big city said, “I somehow managed to become homeless for the first time in my life—and I was scared. For the first few days, I was utterly lost and slept in a doorway downtown. The guys in the park shared their food with me and took me to a soup kitchen. Knowing how confused I was, they took charge and brought me with them to a shelter. There were a lot of rough-looking men in line when we got there, and I was shaking in my boots. Finally, they opened the door and let us in, and we all got beds. Then they turned out the lights, and I was terrified.

“I was in this room with about a hundred guys. You could hear them coughing and turning as they tried to get comfortable for the night. It got a little quieter, and then, somewhere from out of the darkness, a…