The Mom meets "Yah-Yah"

For a birthday get away, we did what hubby loves to do, go to Chicago.  He is the best traveler and can find a hole- in- the- wall- restaurant in the middle of Italy if he wanted. He knows how to hop on every train, what cab # to call when needed, what bus, subway, you name it, the best eating spots, the "must-sees", he is the "Traveling Rick Steves" man to have.  So going to Chicago for him was an adventure; we had some Home Brew spots we wanted to check out and the fact that it was cheaper to return some winter boots to the actual store than send them back from purchasing online was plenty enough reason to plan a night out in Chi-town together.

While I enjoy making small talk, meeting and learning about people I find myself surrounded by, it just wasn't happening in Chicago.  Everyone is catching up on the phone, Ipad, head down with ear phones in, or avoiding eye contact at every cost.  I could even stare directly at a person for about five minutes and they have no clue eyes are on them (a little dangerous if you ask me!).  A man walked into our subway car shouting, "$money?!, passes?! food?!, haven't eaten for 2 days, out in the cold... anything!? anyone?!?!"  I was amazed at how he looked at each person directly waiting for any handouts he could get.  Shouting as if he were selling his heart out at a baseball game for popcorn and peanuts.  We made eye contact, I think I was the only one who didn't look the other way, and he disappeared repeating his "work" into the next car.


How can someone, so bold not have somewhere, something, some job, sleeping under a roof and eating warm food?  I know there are a lot of people out there and I'm not naive to the situation, it just blows my mind that with that confidence, wow, there's got to be more in this world that people just aren't grabbing a hold of.  How? Why?  What happened that put that man out on the streets? The wrong vehicle at the wrong time?  Bad choices? What was it?


We went up the stairs, down the stairs and across the street to
catch the next subway.  A man singing loud and proud with another man playing along on the guitar filled the subway with great harmony and a friendly atmosphere. They brought a smile to my face, and again, what confidence, or was it doing what it takes, to survive at this point?  I don't know but I do know it was great to have some good music to listen to at the moment.  I started wondering all this aloud and my hubby says, "Did you ever think, they do have more?  Maybe they are just doing what they love, music, and tomorrow morning, they'll go right to their day job?  You just don't know what else they have going on."  and I didn't know, but I wanted to...or did I?

Remember the man that knew always how to get from point A to point B... my handsome hubby I told you about??  Well, we took the wrong turn, I know he would've gotten us to our destination eventually but a man shouts out, "where you going?" Hubby tells him and the man grabs his bags by his feet and says, "no, no, no, go this way..., that way..., then get off there.... come on I'm going that way, just follow me."  I looked at my hubby and yep, before I know it, we were all going in the same direction.  The man stepped aside, not saying a word as we waited for the next train and then, I did it, I started asking, "why....".

The Mom & Yah-Yah

We jumped on the train together and I sat by him, asking him, "Why are you going in our direction?  Where are you headed?"  followed by much more, and this is what I learned about my new friend, "Yah-Yah".  What I learned from him personally was one thing but what he taught me was even more.  He was headed on the next train, he was homeless and didn't have a home he was headed to but had certain trains that he took at certain times because certain ones 1) kept him warmer 2) took him to a shelter 3) took him to a church 4) let him rest because it was less crowded.  Certain shelters offered him toiletries he needed to keep clean and certain churches offered him new clothes "tags and everything" for him to have.  Some locations gave him warm, dry blankets, and he had it all zipped up in a black bag sitting next to him.  Everything he owned right there in front of us.  "Where are you're gloves?" He kept on talking..."my mom died of cancer, my brother plays pro football out on the west coast, my sister owns a restaurant."  He told me about his family and as he held back tears, he told me about his son that he hopes one day he could be more of a father to. "Why do you not keep in contact with any of your family?"  He kept telling me more, he was incarcerated for drugs for six years and no family contact since then.  We got off the train and kept talking, learning, listening.  "by the way, here's my gloves, I have some!"  We laughed and he stopped and said this is where you need to head up to and started with more directions for us.  He didn't ask for anything and didn't imply for us to give him anything.  HE. WAS. HELPING. US.

We started saying our good byes to our new friend and he said, "pardon me, I'm so sorry, I never introduced myself, my real name is.... but my friends call me "Yah-Yah" and he reached out his hand to shake with us both.  My hubby and I gave him a big hug and told him, "Thank You so much for helping us out and we will pray for you."  His eyes lit up as if we just gave him the entire world.  "YOU WILL!?!? Can we do it right now?!?!"  and before you know it, there was the three of us in a circle of prayer in the middle of the subway station heads bowed, eyes close and Yah- Yah praying his heart out thanking God for people like us and praying for help to be a father to his son.  Praying for us?!  All we did was offer prayer to him, He was helping US and couldn't thank US enough! Within that prayer, I learned his relationship with God was more than anything me, my hubby, or anyone else in that subway could ever possibly have or imagine.  At that very moment, I saw with my own eyes that yes, with God, anything is possible.  I asked if I could take a picture together with him and we did.  Then he looked at my husband and said, "Mr. Mark, would you mind if we took one together too?"

You can bet Hubby and I appreciated the rest of our night together that much more and I couldn't have asked for a better gift than learning from my friend Yah-Yah.  The appreciation for everyday, the pillow, the warm meals, the relationships in my life, the birthday wishes from everyone on my facebook page, friends that have come and gone, the great memories I thought of every time my phone beeped with a new birthday greeting.  I thank God for all of that and for showing me how a small act of kindness can mean so much more from both parties and make a difference in the appreciation of life.  My husband said, for Yah-Yah, it was the gift of listening that we offered him.  Someone to just listen.  Relationships you never know, how or when they'll impact you the most. Learning from each one helps make me a better person.

If you are ever in Chicago and run into this man named Yah-Yah.  You tell him Mark & Connie say hello and are praying for him everyday.  And if this story crosses your path and you know him personally, I may not know all of Yah-Yah's story, but I do know a second chance never hurt anybody.  God Bless you Yah-Yah and thank. you.

You may not be able to make a difference in every homeless persons life but the next time you pass someone sitting on the side of the street, say a silent prayer for them.  You'll never run out of prayers and God will never stop answering them.  Make this Valentines Day a holiday for helping others. Pay it forward by giving to shelters, churches, or local community food banks and finding just a little more to give to others who maybe, with just a small act of kindness may find their way to getting prayers answered.