“How you doing today?” 

“I’m blessed.”

“Me too! Maybe you could do me a favor…I’m trying to help people realize their dreams today. What’s your dream?” 

“I don’t have any dreams.”

“What’s a dream you used to have?”

“Owning my own repair shop. I was a mechanic. I specialized in diesel.”

“What happened to that career?” 

“I was involved in an accident and wasn’t able to work for over a year. I hired somebody to take my place, and they had good credentials, things just didn’t work out. I always believed in giving people a second chance…there was this guy that came out of the pen, his name was Fingers, he was a professional safe cracker, and he was doing good for the first six months, but after I had my accident and I wasn’t around to give him support he got back on heroin and robbed my safe. My business was over in Tiburon. Elton John had a condominium right across the street. I was in the richest part of California. Everything just fell apart and I had to file for bankruptcy. It kinda broke me down because I put everything I had into that business…and I haven’t been able to recover from that…it tore me up.”

“How long ago did this happen?” 

“Well let’s see…I was 28, now I’m 65.”

“Would you still be interested in running a store?”

“I could run one, but I can’t work anymore. 8 years ago I had a heart attack and a minor stroke and that ended me.”

“When I got out of the service I was a full blown alcoholic. I had been through recovery and it took me awhile to put my life back together. I was too young, 18 years old, to be exposed to stuff that nobody should have to see. I had to drink to be able to tolerate it. I’d get up in the morning and drink a half pint of vodka for breakfast, a pint for lunch, and a quart for dinner…everyday. I drank till my liver quit. I was about to die. My temperature ran up to 106 and my liver totally failed. I’m blessed though. I have tough genetics. My body refused to die and I came back. After my heart attack and my stroke, the military reviewed my record and said ‘The best thing we can do for you is give you a pension and you can live off that the rest of your life’. That’s what I got for the 2 purple hearts and the silver star. I’d put on my dress uniform and look like a general. I had medals hanging all off. When I got out, I threw all that stuff away in the first garbage can I came across, it didn’t mean nothing. I lost my best friends…all of them blown away. One of my friends got news he was coming back stateside, he was getting married, he was so happy, all drunk, we all went to sleep…he never woke up. That tore me up too…aww man…that’s my story.”

“I hear you. Thank you for sharing. Sounds like you’ve been through a helluva lot.” 

“Oh I have…trust me, I have.”

“Are there any dreams I can help you realize today? Buying a street sheet? Getting you something to eat?”

“Hahahahaha. You can buy a street sheet if you want but what I would really appreciate more than anything is if you would just say ‘Happy Veterans Day’.”

“Happy Veterans Day sir. Thank you for your service. My name is Dijon.” 

“Kenneth.”