6
street roots
April 15, 2011
S k y M usic
.Speechless Poems.
A symphony in the sky
Stars twinkling
Quietly ringing
Thousands of tiny silver bells
Midnight cloudless night
Making each
day better
than the
ones before
Lightning flashing
Timing is everything
Silently keeping measure
A symphony in the sky
Thunder booming
Drumming frantically
Clash of cymbals fills the air
Trees sway angrily
Wind rushing
Noisily singing
As clarinets, flutes and horns
A symphony in the sky
Rain pattering
Softly joining in
Rainsticks adding tempo
Moonlit fields awaken
A cry from bird and beast
Insects humming restlessly
Taking up the strings
A symphony in the sky
Look toward heaven
Let its music fill you
Let its music move you
Hear the symphony in the sky
good, local, food.
ALBERTA
COOPERATIVE
GROCERY !
1500 NE Alberta §t?
Portland, OR 97211
5 0 3 .2 8 7 .4 3 3 3 ’
w w w . a I berta g rocery. coop
open to everyone 9-10 dally.
Changing Lives
Building Communities
Creating Opportunities
BY KAISA MCCROW
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
t’s a sunny day on NE 15th Avenue and
Broadway when Street Roots vendor
Raymond Thornton and I sit down to
chat outside of Peet’s Coffee. People are
walking their dogs, enjoying coffee outside,
and generally greeting the day with
enthusiasm. Raymond is no exception; he
thanks God for the day, for the evidence of
spring, and for the good workday the
sunshine is offering him. He loves working
at this spot, and not just on the beautiful
sunny days. Raymond has been selling
putside of this Pete’s Coffee corner for
roughly two months now, and he has
become a part of this comer’s “circle of.
friends.” A woman and her dog stop by for a
hello and a pat, Raymond knows both of
I
VENDOR PROFILE *
Raymond Thornton
their names and greets them excitedly. An
elderly man makes his way by our table and
before he can speak Raymond beats him to
it, “I owe you a paper, sir!”
“Yes you do,” replies the man slowly as
Raymond pulls orte of two remaining papers
out of his bag to hand to. the gentlemen,
who bought a paper in advance another day
when Raymond had run o u t
Raymond seems to not only know
everyone’s name, but also where they like to
hang when they come to Pete’s. He points
-to where the cyclists sit, where the dog
walkers sit, who buys papers, who makes
regular donations. For those that he doesn’t
know that walk by, he approaches them with
an honest question, “Are you a fan of Street
Roots?”
He doesn’t want to be called a -
“salesman,” although he does have an
extensive background in sales. Rather, he is
successful at selling papers because he is a
part of the fabric of this corner. Raymond
likes to tell people where their dollar goes,
which they appreciate. Recently one of the
Peet’s Coffee staff got in touch with Street
Roots, asking that this location become
Raymond’s permanent spot. He has been
officially invited in, and he is ecstatic over i t
Then again, Raymond comes off as a
fairly ecstatic guy. He has good news to
share with people about Street Roots, about
where he has. been in life, and his road to
recovery.
And it is the turmoil of his past that has
brought him to where he is now, seeking
daily a state of grace and peace through his
relationship with what he describes as, “the
Divine.” Raymond’s faith and his daily
practice of prayer^nd meditation is the
evident well-spring of his joy, and his
For just
w w w .centrcilcdtyconcern.org
503-294-1681
$i
positive attitude and spirit are his efforts to
share this joy with others.
Raymond describes finding his
relationship to a higher power as a “big hug”
that hit him in his mid-30s while he was in
jail. Struggling for years with addictions, this
experience was just the beginning of a much
longer road torecovery.
experienced hurdles and stumbling blocks,
and turn them into steppingstones, as
Raymond describes it. It is a program that
believes in stability before recovery; they
were able to get Raymond housing and on
his feet He admits that it didn’t stick the
first time, but Mary believed in him enough
to give him a second chance, and he hit the
Raymond moved from his home state of
ground running.
Washington to California at age 18. This is
Now, Raymond is deeply invested in a
when and where he began his “drinking
community of people in recovery, and h e .
career.” “It’s a big part of my life,” Raymond loves i t He recently received eight
says about drinking. “I’m an alcoholic, I just certificates of course completion through
don’t drink anymore.” There is a lot of pain
CEP; his efforts are being recognized and
in his past, and he talks about it with the
celebrated daily. He is among a group of
same levelof’genuine honesty that he would like-minded, spiritual people there.„He says
tell a customer he needs a dollar for Bic
they aren’t the religious sort who believe in
razors for his clean-shaven head.
God because they are afraid of going to hell,
He was married for a time, but reflects
because they have already been there.
that “drunk boyfriends are cute, drunk
Instead, they are looking to make amends
husbands are not.” ;
for their past mistakes and begin each day
“Was there really room in my marriage
living their lives more fully. This is what
for a drunken life style? After a while, there, Raymond is all about, taking things day-by-
wasn’t room in my drunken lifestyle for a
day. In his prayer and meditation he asks.for
marriage.” The marriage ended. Raymond
“courage strength focus and enthusiasm,
has suffered bouts of depression, from his
and to do 1 percent better than yesterday.”
addictions and from loneliness.
The vigor with which Raymond praises
He has nearly died of multiple drug
the good things in his life give the
overdoses, and recalls a doctor telling him
impression that he is no longer stuck in that
angrily, “Raymond, you need to learn to live
broken down car. Of course this isn’t the
well, because you don’t die well.”
whole picture, the hurdles of recovery and
Raymond describes addiction as a
addiction will always be with him. And there
dimension of. stunted emotional growth, and
are still many parts of his past to make
likens it to being locked in a car on the side
amends for or put behind him. But the point
of the road with no gas. Stuck, going
for Raymond is to embrace the struggles as
nowhere.
part of life and to keep on. “You can only
Recovery for Raymond was found last
stumble when you are standing up, in *
August at Hooper Detox. Mary, a
motion and trying to move. I enjoy
representative of the Central City Concerns
stumbling. As long as I get up one more
Community Engagement Program (CEP),
time than I fall down.”
asked Raymond if he was ready for recovery.
The program helps people who have