Eddie Russell

I met this beautiful creature in while walking down Melrose in Los Angeles in a few months ago. I was near all the posh shops and it was getting dark. I walked past this man in a wheelchair, and his shopping cart was stuck in a hole in the middle of the sidewalk. I wanted to keep going but something made me turn around. I went back to him and got his cart out of the hole. I began to talk with Eddie and one moment turned into one of the most profound experiences of my life.

Eddie is 71 years old. He is in a wheelchair as a result of a back injury. At the time I saw him he had three shopping carts filled with items he had collected, and no shoes on. His shoes were stolen the night before while he was sleeping in a park. Eddie was trying to get to another area of town, a park perhaps, where he would stay the night. Although Eddie was disabled, homeless and shoeless, he was one of the happiest people I've ever met in my life. His spiritual presence and intelligence was divine. Together we laughed, sang the Eurythmics, recited the poetry of Maya Angelou and discussed philosophy and theology. His joy and beauty permeated everything around him, and his eyes were brighter than the sun. In his seemingly dispossessed position, this man had all the dignity are respect of a God. He apologized to every single person who passed by for obstructing their path, and expressed such love, acceptance and appreciation for all he had. When I asked him what it was like to be homeless in a city like L.A, where class differentiations are at their highest, he stated that love is everywhere, despite being the subject of so much revulsion and negativity. What sustained him was all the love that comes when and where you least expect it. His final message was one that will always stay with me... 

"Hope is eternal"

Moon