Reflections on The Homeless

Juicy clementines, a fresh turkey and cranberry wrap, and a box of After Eight mint chocolates with a big red bow. Someone was going to devour and savor these items that I'd selected for a care package.

Tonight it's New Year's Eve, and I'm reflecting on the homeless man who rode past my apartment on his bicycle, with 2 backpacks and a black cloth grocery bag. All his belongings were on his bike, and it made me cringe and also feel immense pity for him. I watched as he rummaged through the garbage bins along the stretch of apartments on my street. My heart ached for him.

So I reached into my fridge and packaged up what I could before he was gone.

Chasing after him, I handed him the grocery bag with the food and chocolates. "Merry Christmas," I said softly.

He was about 62 years old, face weathered from the hard times, shaggy black hair peppered with grey strands, wearing brown work boots and ratty dark jeans with a bulky, black bomber coat.

"Thanks," he said humbly, accepting the bag of nourishment.

My neighborhood has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the entire province. It is staggering. Daily, I witness scores of single men on bicycles or on foot, no doubt sleeping in parks or bushes, or perhaps along the creek. The epidemic of poverty in this city just breaks my heart, and with the closing of General Motors next year, something tells me, this place might end up being a ghost town. The mall cost $90 million to expand, but when the 2,600 auto workers are laid off, that results in millions of revenue lost annually at the mall.

These are the reflections of an author at the end of a full year. A year that has been filled with change for me, and huge personal growth. I only pray that one day we can bring an end to this vicious cycle of poverty once and for all. But maybe, just maybe, that's just me being Pollyanna.

Happy New Year, my friends.

RR xo

CHRISTMAS JOY!!!

Dear Readers,


Don't you just love this time of year? The days are short, the nights cool and crisp, and the fireplace is burning with the living room lights down low. Just the glow of the Christmas tree to light the room.
There might be a fresh snowfall coming or the promise of one. If you have a special person in your life, this time is even more memorable, because the romance of the season is front and center. Everything just feels so ALIVE...and unforgettable. It has MEANING where

it would otherwise be just another day.

I want to share some Christmas joy tonight with you. I've just come from the most SPECTACULAR CHRISTMAS CONCERT!

The REAL Derek Keys (yes, there is a REAL LIVE MAN who inspired my book "The Christmas Keys") put on a stellar performance at Simcoe Street United Church, to raise funds for the homeless. As president of The Back Door Mission for The Relief of Poverty, Derek Giberson is my personal hero. Not only that, but is the modern day hero for countless homeless, hungry and addicted people who need a hand up in this community.

I am floored and honored to know him. Somehow, the Universe put me here in his ward. Where I once tried to resist this fate (being misplaced from my idyllic hometown to this awful city that I begrudged), I now ease into it and accept that RIGHT HERE AND NOW...I am meant to be.

The most PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL story has come out of my spring of writing. Thank you Derek for all that you are, and for being the magnificent soul that God made you to be. I am GRATEFUL for your existence, HUMBLED by your presence, in awe of your beauty, and ENAMORED by the majestic man that you are.

Tonight you walked onto that stage in a red blazer with gold buttons, black pants, brown shoes and a crisp white shirt. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. My storybook hero had come to life!!

Sorry if this comes off as some sort of gloating fool. I just want you to know that...after my huge loss and heartache...I am infinitely happy to have found you on this planet. Did you know...that when I lost My beloved Trent...I feared the worst? That the stories in me would die, that the well of ideas would dry up and be no more, and that I would walk this earth as some shadow of who I used to be. Horrible, right? I feared that I would lose my edge and the ability to write with conviction...or any sort of talent that i was born with.

Lo and behold...I was wrong. Alas...from out of the blue...a vision appeared. Someone to chase away my fears and remind me that life is still...after all...worth living.

Derek, you have brought me Christmas Joy tonight at the concert. You and those amazing singers and performers...blew me away. I am blessed to know you. So many mouths will be fed. Lives will be touched. Hearts will be warmed in the midst of winter. Last year, in one night, you raised $17,000. This year, as the concert runs two nights, I am expecting you and the Mission to bring in over $30,000.

God Bless You, sweet man. If this blog post makes me a sap, then so be it.

You've brought me Christmas Joy beyond what I expected this season.

May your glass always be full, your heart be light, and your bankroll be forever replenished.

I love you, My friend.

Merry Christmas,

RR xo