Panhandlers - UPDATE

I'm revisiting my blog and am hopeful I may be able to start posting again!  So much has happened since my last post in 2011, but that's a different post.

On May 16, 2011 I blogged about some observations I've made about some panhandlers I used to see frequently on my commute to work.  I wanted to share this article about Bonita Franks who I have found out is the nicely dressed, pulled-together woman that I notice out on the streets.  I hadn't seen her in a while, but have started to see her again in the last year.  Now she holds up a sort of sign resume with her name, and also what appeared to be a newspaper article.  I got her name off her sign resume and Bing'd it - Bingo I found her!  I'm relieved to see that my initial thoughts about her were accurate and she is really trying to find a job.  I'm sad for her that she was only off the street for a relatively short period of time, but she certainly keeps a good attitude and she really is a good person, just down on her luck.

Two of the other "regulars" I mentioned (the elderly African American man who would tell us when it was his birthday) and the elderly hunched over woman (one day I also noticed a huge tumor/grown on her arm the size of a tennis ball) have been gone for a t least a year.  I think about them and can't help but wonder if they are OK or if they have passed away.

Middlesex

"Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Loved everything about this book - from it being set in Michigan (my former home state) to following the three generations of the Stefanides family to hearing how Cal's life and self discovery unfold.  I listened to the audiobook and understand that Middlesex (in addition to winning a Pulitzer) won an "Audi" award.  I'm not surprised;  the narrator was wonderful - so much so that I wonder if reading the paper book would have impacted my love of the story since I'd have to create the voices in my head.

I also enjoyed the historical fiction aspect, which I hadn't expected when I started the book.  Bonus!