Well, I’ve got a lot of medical operations coming up. I have a hole in my heart and they are either going to mend it or do major surgery. I won’t know until next month. I also have to get my esophagus stretched again and I need a knee replacement and a hip replacement. I’m 77. I’m falling apart, but I’m still coming on strong. I’m not gonna give up selling The Contributor.
I’m having a ball playing my music for people downtown while I sell the paper. They say, “You’re great! You’re really good. You are amazing. How old were you when you learned?”
I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life you would not believe. I’ve been a mailman. I’ve worked for the city cleaning streets and working at two different parks. I’ve been an offset printer’s assistant. I’ve been a carpenter, and a plumber and I’ve worked with electricians and locksmiths. I’ve had jobs at gas stations and restaurants. Right now I’m trying to get a job at Room in the Inn. When somebody tells me I can’t do something, they don’t know me, because I will struggle harder and harder to do it and they won’t know what they were talking about.
Sadly, I’m loosing connection with my family. They keep forgetting me, but they won’t let me forget them and ask me to send them something. When they keep forgetting me it makes me not want to do anything. I call them once in a while and it makes me feel bad. I’m the youngest one living out of 12 and there are five of us left.
I will always love Nashville because I was born and raised here. My family is number one, my church is number two, and The Contributor and Room in the Inn are number three. I’m still at my same church, Ethos. They knew I was sick and couldn’t attend service for three weeks, but I told them I’d be back. I have a wonderful church family.
The Contributor is in my heart and has given me so much. I don’t buy as many papers as I used to because I’m not selling as many, but I don’t want to quit. My customers love to hear my music. I can’t stay out as long as I used to though, because my leg won’t take the beating of the spoons. I stay out for three hours now and that’s good enough for me. What they want to give for the paper is fine with me. Even if it’s a quarter. I’m an old man but I still feel blessed in my heart. Until I’m gone from this world, I’ll be published in The Contributor. To the other Contributor vendors out there, keep on trucking. It will work for you because it works for me.