From homelessness to daily thankfulness

As we sat down around our Thanksgiving table to give thanks for our many blessings, I would bet not many said they are grateful to be able to pull weeds and for the chance to clean a house.

But then, not many have had the life changing transformation of Bob Friend.

For about six years, he didn’t have a yard or a house. He didn’t have a bed on which to lay his head or the chance to make himself a morning cup of coffee.

Every little thing most of us take or granted was missing from Bob’s life.

“When you’re homeless, you try not to think about things like that because it’s just too painful,” said the Englewood man.

It was his sister Jeanne who wouldn’t give up trying to find him and the prayers of hundreds of people that restored Bob to those simple pleasures.

“We didn’t know my brother lost his job, then his apartment when he could no longer pay rent.

“We didn’t know he was homeless and living under a bridge,” says Jeanne Friend. “We didn’t know he was beaten and robbed of his wallet and personal information. That meant he didn’t have our phone number to call us for help.”

The last time she saw her brother he was living in his spotless apartment and was happily working on the Tampa docks. It was only when her sister saw a picture of Bob at a soup kitchen that they realized he had fallen upon rough times.

Jeanne launched an all-out effort to find her homeless brother without any initial success. A woman of deep faith, she asked her church group to pray she would find him.

“I went on an outline prayer group and literally hundreds of people joined me in praying I would find him,” she says.

It seemed like the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack when Jeanne and her sister set off for Tampa, vowing to find their brother.

She is my dear friend and I desperately wanted her to find Bob. I knew how much she was hurting to think of her brother living on the streets.

Yet, even though I am an optimist through and through, I didn’t know how anyone could find one homeless man in a big town like Tampa. But Jeanne was determined.

She sees the work of a divine hand in the way she did find her brother. This is how she tells her story.

“I had made dozens of fliers with Bob’s photo on them, asking anyone who saw him to please call me. We planned to tack up fliers in areas where the homeless were known to be.”

But before she could do that, something like a minor miracle happened.

“As we were driving into town, there wasn’t a car on the road, even though it’s normally a high traffic area. Then we saw Ron walking toward us. What are the odds that would happen?” she asks.

Jeanne brought her brother to her home but the trauma wasn’t over for them.

“When I got up the next day I saw blood all over the place. Ron was hemorrhaging, lying on the lanai in a pool of blood,” she said.

According to the ER doctor, he was near death.

“If I would have found him one day later the doctor said he would have been dead,” she says.

She told her brother he could live with her, provided he never drank again.

He faithfully attends AA meetings and is now happy to say he’s been clean for two years.

“I’m grateful to my sister for giving me the kind of life I now have,” he says

Jeanne says her brother is the “sweetest, most gentle soul” who can’t do enough for her.

“I give thanks every day for my brother,” she says. “His happy, cheerful personality brightens every day.”

Her friends also notice Bob’s uncommon gentleness. When a butterfly was stuck inside a pool cage he wouldn’t give up until he could rescue the monarch.

I’ve seen him rescue geckos with that same tenderness.

Bob has a reverence for every living thing and a keen appreciation for every simple kindness. One of his favorite places is church where he sits in adoration, soaking up the joyful music and sermon.

What is he most grateful for?

“Every moment of every day,” he says

He’s thankful for his morning coffee and the daily newspaper he enjoys … thankful for his 10-mile daily bike rides … thankful for the chance to sit in a serene setting and watch the wildlife.

“I’m thankful for the peace and quiet of living in a safe place and for the beauty I see all around me,” Bob says.

Most of all, he’s grateful for his caring sister.

“She gave me back my life,” he says. “I don’t take one moment of this life for granted.”

His eyes well up with emotional tears as he says he can never repay Jeanne for all she has given him. But he tries to show his appreciation every day scrubbing floors, pulling weeds and taking care of everything that needs to be done.

It’s a beautiful brother-sister love story, one that deserves to be told.

It’s so nice when a story like this has a happy ending.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.