Yesterday a young man read the below poem, written by a participant of The Doorway (then The Back Door) in 1992. It resonated so deeply he carried it around to share it with several staff, ‘this, this is my life’. Profound it is he found a poem and a person whom shares his experience. Also profound, three decades apart these two young people have so much in common.

We walk alone through life’s endless journey,
never seeing light or the way things should be.
Friends and family are a daily event
and no two days are the same.

Can you help the person:
not the file or the case?
Guess not…
If you get to close,
You may know me and my feelings.
That’s not what it is about, is it?

Talk “with” me, not “at” me, or “about” me.
Feel my feelings and my fears.
My record and my clothes are statements from my journey.
Not necessarily the vehicles to the road ahead.

We’d like to live, love and laugh… like you.
Please… show me the way…

-1992