In an alley behind the local Ralph’s Supermarket sits a man comforting a sleeping woman. It is cold. All he asks me for is a blanket for his shivering girlfriend. It’s all he wants.

He gets up and extends his hand to mine and introduces himself. We talk for a while and I learn that his current circumstance is the result of a bicycle injury that has torn his ACL and meniscus in his right knee. There was a time that this local man was making over $2500.00 a week, but “that was some time ago” according to him.

He is more concerned about the well being of his girlfriend and hope to take care of her with any means he can. Her past injuries have left her unable to walk.

He is a proud man and a grateful one. He tells me that he is “grateful to be alive and for her”. As I look into his eyes, I see a true love affair as they light up with joy when he speaks of her. “I am blessed with her companionship. Some people just give up”.

“I hope that one day, maybe next year, I can buy a motor home so we can continue to be together and live”.

12 Dec This entry was published on December 12, 2014 at 1:56 pm. It’s filed under Portraits and tagged Black and White, Blanket, Gratitude, Homeless, Hope, Life, Los Angeles, Portrait, Rain. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.