A STORY ABOUT GERRY

About 4 or 5 years ago Ger and I went to Paris with his sister Ann Marie. We were only there about three days and stayed at a very small hotel near the North train station. The hotel was located on a rather busy avenue and on the rare occasions that we were in our rooms Gerry could be found standing at the window of our room watching the people and cars out on the street. (Anyone who knew Ger knew he was a people watcher of the highest degree. Often to the point of having dinner out together and never saying a word for the entire meal because he was so busy watching other people.)
Across the Avenue from our hotel there were some shops with a sidewalk in front of them and a phone booth and a large old tree between the sidewalk and the street. The phone booth wasn't anything like the ones we are used to but rather had six glass sides and was divided into compartments. Living in two or three of these compartments was a homeless gentleman that fascinated Gerry.

Ann Marie and I were unaware of this interest of Gerard's until late in the last day. On our last evening as we sat in our room chatting about our plans for leaving the next morning Ger was, as usual standing at the window looking out. We asked him what was so interesting and he began to tell us about the homeless man living in the phone booth. He said how he had been watching him for the past two and a half days. How the man would leave the booth in the morning and take his things with him but return each evening and settle down for the night. Ger said the man seemed to bring food back with him at night and eat in the phone booth, then wrap himself in blankets, (it was Spring so the weather was mild) and sleep the night. Ger also said he had watched the man get up just this morning, come out of the phone booth, walk to the tree. drop his pants, squat next to the tree and poop! Ann Marie and I were "shocked" yet laughing at the thought and telling Ger he should have called us! All this drama going on just across the avenue from us and Gerry watching it all.

The next morning it was time to go. Our bags were packed and we checked out, ready to walk the couple of blocks to the train station. As we stepped out of the hotel Gerry put his bag down and told us to wait a minute. Ann Marie and I looked at each other wondering what the heck he was doing. But as we had come to know after all these years of traveling together . . . DON'T ASK !  We put our bags down and watched as Ger ran across the 4 wide lanes of the Avenue and right up to the phone booth where the homeless man was sleeping. Ger banged on the glass door but the man just waved him away. Ger banged again and showed him something in his hand. The homeless man slowly got to his feet and cautiously opened the door to the booth. Gerry handed him something, shook his hand and ran back across the street to us. There he picked up his bag and started walking. Ann Marie and I stood there staring after him with our mouths hanging open. When we caught up with him we asked him what he had done. Gerard's response :  "Well, I figured we are leaving Paris and probably won't ever get here again so I gave him all the money we had left over."

A year later Ger was diagnosed with cancer and two and a half years after that he was gone. We never got back to Paris. But he sure did leave a piece of himself there.