Life takes unusual turns now and then. We’re reminded of this daily during this visit our daughter and new son in Ohio. Every day, when we drive from the relatives we’re staying with (they have a big house) to our daughter and new son’s digs (a tiny apartment), we drive by an impressive, three story, turn-turn-of-the-century brick building. A prominent “for lease” sign graces the large, grassy front yard, and another proclaiming “office space to let” covers the space where I suspect the original name of the building is engraved in stone.
After driving by a few times, I asked Hiram, “Do you think that’s the old orphanage where your grandma took your dad and his brother Cassius to live?”
Neither of us were sure, so we asked Hiram’s step-mom when we saw her. “Yes, she said. “That big three-story building on Wooster St. That’s where those boys lived when their mother didn’t have the means to care for them.
This morning, when we drove by the former orphanage, the words from “It’s a Hard Knock Life” came to mind…
It’s the hard-knock life for us
It’s the hard-knock life for us
No one cares for you a smidge
When your in an orphanage
It’s the hard-knock life
It’s the hard-knock life
It’s the hard-knock life!
…and thought the lyrics aren’t nearly as carefree and humorous when you know someone who was an orphan. Like Hiram’s father. Who had a hard time his entire life demonstrating love to others. Partly because he was a quiet, non-demonstrative man. But also, perhaps, because he was sent to an orphanage when he was ten. And he felt like no one cared for him a smidge.
I think of my father-in-law, and I think of our children as we drive the few short blocks between the orphanage he entered at age 10 and the grad school apartment where my daughter and new son live. My heart aches to think of that lonely man who felt unloved. But it delights in our children who know we love them dearly.
Why this strange turn of events?
Perhaps to remind us of the blessings God has rained upon our family.
Perhaps to create compassion for a man who never knew them.
Perhaps to make me realize “widows and orphans” aren’t theory but fact.
Perhaps to make me cry.
Thanks for sharing about “The Orphanage” which makes me more aware of orphans and widows. Historic, beautiful building filled with many hopes & dreams. Make we all be more intentional about caring for these real people.
Blessings,
Teresa
And this is why I’m a liberal when it comes to government social programs. Social Security widow’s & dependents’ benefits have done more than anything I know to help survivors stay together when a parent died leaving young children. Many conservatives say it’s taken over responsibilities that belong to families. I say “bunk” (being polite)! How were kids & families better off when, after losing one parent, they effectively lost the other when the suriviving parent couldn’t afford to care for the kids & other relatives, if there were any, were unprepared to help? Orphanages were preferable to having the kids roam the streets. Even now, they’re preferable to less stable foster homes. But where a family could stay together if there’s an income, Social Security can be a lifesaver. I feel this esp. as my own FIL lost his own father when he was 6 yo. He was shifted around to various relatives till he was 9, when he was placed in Philadelphia’s Girard College, a home & school for fatherless boys. He stayed there till age 18. I never asked him about it, but it made me wonder how he felt that his mother sent him away while she kept his younger sister w/her. Again, it was probably a more stable enviornment than relatives who didn’t, or couldn’t keep him. It was also closer to her than the several dozen miles from Philly, where they lived, to Lancaster & Lebanon Counties where the other relatives lived. And there were also male models among faculty & staff that could help & teach a young boy how to grow. But I still say that the introcudtion of Social Security was one of the most pro-family pieces of legislation we’ve ever had. It’s over 75 & needs revamping due to growing #s of aging Baby Boomers (of whom I’m one), but it’s well worth keeping for this alone.
Perhaps to remind us all that there are still children living without parents and people in need of love. Thanks for the beautiful post Jolene.
Thanks to all of you for your comments about this post. Fran, my father-in-law went to the orphanage during the Great Depression. It was better than going hungry or living with an alcoholic parent. But a 10-year-old boy doesn’t understand that. And I could see that boy in my father-in-law’s eyes every time I looked at him. The post wasn’t intended so much to be a comment on government policies and leanings. Perhaps, it’s more a call to action for believers to make a real difference in the lives of widows and orphans.
Jolene
Beautiful! Thanks for the reminder to cherish our blessings and show compassion to those less fortunate!