Book #9 - same kind of different As me. by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

When I started this blog, my best friend Kathye handed me this book and said I must read it. That's all she told me about it. This is the second very emotionally intense memoir I've read this month, and please let this be a lesson to my readers to spread some of these NY Times Best Selling memoirs out a little. I've been through the emotional ringer, and it is only January. The premise of the book was the unlikely friendship of a homeless, blackman named Denver and a rich, white art dealer, Ron Hall, that meet at a Homeless Shelter in Dallas, TX. The interesting part of their relationship is that neither wanted to be friends but both were forced in to it by Miss Debbie (Ron's wife). After weathering 25 years of the ups and downs of marriage, the Hall's began volunteering at the local rescue mission and that is where the story of these two men cross. It is an inspiring and heartwarming story of their friendship, but I was not nearly as moved by them as by Deborah Hall. If you would have handed me this book and asked me to read only the sections about Miss Debbie but put no name to the woman in the story, this could have been the life-story of my Aunt Susie. Caring, passionate, faithful woman who reaches out to every person she meets. Spreads joy and kindness to all. Compelled to get heavily involved in a local organization and falls victim to the fight of her life with cancer. The descriptions of the medicines, how it racked her body and yet she never gave up her hopeful spirit. The planning of future details to be sure her husband and children would be taken care of. The thousands of people at her memorial service. Like my Aunt, Deborah wasn't famous. She wasn't politically important. She didn't hold some huge, important job, and yet, she touched thousands of people. Like my Aunt, after her death, Deborah continued to contribute through all of those who loved her and continued her life's work. I hope that during the time after my Aunt died that my Uncle found solace in a friend like Denver. I think many times that friend was my Grandfather who also lost his best friend the day my Aunt Susie died. Denver was a remarkable man. Spent half of his life as a modern-day slave as a sharecropper picking cotton in Louisiana and felt as though he had 'moved on up' when he lived in Ft. Worth as a homeless man. Denver shared tons of practical wisdom in this book and though he could not read, his simplistic view on life gave him a greater understanding of God than any of us could dream of. One story that I want to share is of when he and Ron went to visit and elderly, white, homeless man in a nursing home. This old man had called Denver a "nigger" since the day he met him, and for three years, Denver continued to visit him, bring him treats, and keep him clean. On this occassion, Ron asked the man if there was anthing he could bring him, and the man asked for cigarettes and Ensure. When Ron and Denver went to the store to get these items, Ron was going to baulk on the cigarettes because they are bad for you. Denver's response was, "You asked the man how you could bless him, and he told you he wanted two things - cigarettes and Ensure. Now you tryin to judge him instead of blessin him by blessin him with only half the things he asked for. You saw the man. Now tell me the truth: How much worse you think he gon' be after smokin? Cigarettes is the only pleasure he got left." There are two things I will carry with me from this book. First, I will not judge, only bless, and second, even the simplest of people can make a huge impact by just caring for the needs of others.