Characters

My life is full of characters. And by "character," I mean, interesting, wily, one-of-a-kind people who stick in your mind.

Our newest resident is one such character. I met her when I was 19. I was visiting Good Works in the spring of my sophomore year of college and spent an evening hanging out at the Timothy House. I was pretty wide-eyed and felt a lot like a tourist. I ate dinner with Mindy (not her real name), who I learned was an alcoholic. She seemed really nice and put me at ease. When it was time for me to go back to the Hannah House (where interns stay) that night, Jessi, the staff member who was driving me gave Mindy a ride to work on the way. I remember being really surprised that Mindy had a job and also being full of wonderment at riding in a car with a homeless woman. I thought something like, I'll bet my life will never be the same after this! Wide-eyed, like I said.

The next time I saw Mindy, she had dug her way out of the cycle of alcoholism....

and fallen straight into the cycle of domestic violence. 2 and 1/2 years ago, she showed up at the shelter escorted by a short man with no fingers on his right hand, mean, clear blue eyes, and white stubble on his face. They were looking to get some kind of reference letter from us. He spoke in clipped words and only gestured with his lesser hand; every bit of his communication was an attempt to intimidate. I was working with my friend, Rosenna, and we both knew immediately that he was a wife-beater. They did not get what they were looking for.

Neither of us was surprised when Mindy called for shelter a year later. She was still sober and was on the run from the short man with the missing fingers. She did OK at the shelter, but left to return to her abuser.

Now, she's running from him again. During our meeting with her today, she said something about guns and alcohol not mixing well. We all agreed, and were cautious, but happy to move her back in, but most people who are the victim of such problems move in with a few of their own. Mindy has already accused everyone in the house of stealing a pouch of tobacco from her things, as well as a cigarette roller. She's asked the staff to rip the house apart looking for it. We said no, so now she's trying to start fights with her 2 roommates. I wished my night shift guy good luck refereeing the cat fight.

Welcome back Mindy. Sincerely.