The words that resonated this morning were: thank you.
Thank you for answering this survey. Thank you for your time. Thank you for coming out here to see us. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Thank you for letting me take your picture. Thank you for risking your lives to be out here….
By the time I got back to my car I realized there were additional unspoken thank yous. Thank you for recognizing our humanity. Thank you for helping me recenter my life.
What?
Yeah, this morning reminded me that more often than not the volunteer work we engage in more often than not fulfills and feeds us. The team I worked with were interesting people to talk with and had great senses of humor. The stories of the people we met along the edge of the Kern River were at times sad and yet, I saw them caring for each other. There are times I see more humanity between people when I am volunteering with the Point in Time Count. The sharing of food, the sharing of what little there is to share, the protectiveness of each other. At the end of our efforts I am reminded that today I received more than I gave. It made getting up at 0 dark thirty much easier, because we were met with smiles and thank yous and now I need to return my thanks.
Thank you everyone I met and photographed today. Thank you for allowing me to see and share in your humanity and save a piece of my own.
– Mike
Look at some photos from the count HERE.
