Sunday, June 7, 2009

Jim


Last night I was in a bar in Clearfield Pa.http://history.rays-place.com/pa/clear-b-clearfield.htm and met Jim, a man with a story. He had it tough. He was in Viet Nam in 1967 for 2 years and survivied. He did the hippie thing and hitched around the country for some years and then he sponsered a Vietnamese family to relocate over here because the father had been executed during the war as he was an officer in the south. He married the daughter and they lived in California together for 22 years until she died of a heart attack in 1997. That took a toll in him mentally and Jim suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and he's bi-polar. He also lost his lower left leg about 10 years ago due to an infection. We had a great comversation together and I had to assist him to his home as he could not walk too well. He was a very soft spoken and kind fellow and I was glad I got to meet him.

1 comment:

  1. I find this writing quite striking. Telling other people's stories suites your own form of self-reflection: you come out through them.

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