街頭露宿者的心声 / Homeless Man Speaks

Yesterday, I read an article on the Globe and Mail about the blog by Philip and Tony of Toronto. Philip, who has a MBA from Harvard and teaches a computer science course at the University of Toronto, met Tony near a coffee shop. Tony once had a family and his last job was a driver. Unfortunately, he was laid off and his wife passed away about seven years ago. His children could not take care of him and without income, he ended up living on the street. However, even as Tony's age approaches 60, he is strong as ever. He has his integrity and way of looking at the world and the necessary will and wisdom to survive in the harsh Canadian environment, especially when night temperature could dip to 20 or 30 degrees centigrade below zero.

In the blog "Homeless Man Speaks", Philip reports and sometimes interprets what Tony says. The rich text and pictures provide the readers with a good sense of Tony's view points as well as his stories about life on the street. For example, in one post, Philip asked Tony about his wish, and the latter responded: "I would have my wife back." In another, he was asked about his expectation of the blog's impact on the readers. He thought hard and replied that it was really important that the young people be brought up properly so they would not get into trouble later in life.

Dear friends, there are many homeless people in this world and I am not expecting that we will be able to help everyone of them. However, during Christmas and New Year, when we are together with our family and friends, I would suggest that we should appreciate what we have, how lucky we are, and think about the homeless people such as Tony.

Photo credit: Taken by Philip, please see the blog by Philip and Tony at http://homelessmanspeaks.wordpress.com/