He remembers beginning the day with being woken by police while sleeping outside and taken to a shelter overnight. He explains the difficulty of navigating closed restrooms, unsafe bathrooms at Union Station where people use drugs, and their own struggle with alcohol. A recent connection with a church has given him hope for joining a program that combines spiritual support with addiction recovery. He emphasize wanting to separate from angry or violent people and focus on happiness, noting how quickly arguments can spiral into shootings and death on the streets.
He feels guilt for not being able to help financially but takes pride in offering emotional guidance so his children avoid his mistakes. He describes carrying clothes between friends and tents, relying on his girlfriend to wash his jacket, and the unpredictability of Colorado’s weather. Despite everything, he insists he doesn’t want to “be a bum” and is determined to find a way forward.
