Some of you may remember this picture from last year. It is one of my favorites. I spent about 4 hours with this guy last 4th of July. He had an amazing radio voice. I could just close my eyes and imagine riding down the road in the middle of the night listening to him talk. The tone and timber were incredibly soothing and relaxing.
I find that I have been thinking about him from time to time. I am kind of curious to see if he will be back in Chattanooga. I wonder how the winter weather treated him. I wonder if he decided that he had enough of being on the street. I doubt it though. He was a retired Marine Sergeant, so I can't imagine him being anywhere he didn't already want to be.
We had a good time together that afternoon. He sat on the bridge entertaining passers-by. He would sing a standard country tune, but always managed to work in details about someone who happened to be ignoring him. One lady had her whole wardrobe critiqued before she realized everyone was staring at her.
Last year, he asked if I would take a picture and send it to his mom. I naively said yes and then gave him a business card to get in touch with me. I am still kicking myself for that. Why didn't I just take the picture then and there? Maybe it is still some of my naivete, but I would like to be able to rectify that some day. Until then, I guess I just need to be more conscious of the moment.
Some call it Carpe Diem. Some call it living in the moment. I don't know if those are quite right or not. To me, it was an opportunity missed.
Just maybe, the Lord will put him back in your path. At any rate, you'll know what to say to the next person that asks you to send a picture to his Mom. Opportunity missed. Lesson learned.
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