The broken window

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It was very cold – in fact it was snowing.?It was late and we had just left the warmth of the Concert Hall, having been treated to a couple of hours of beautiful music.?I ran on ahead to get the car started and warmed up.?I was running up to my car, and then I stopped.

?I approached my car with a certain degree of apprehension, as I noticed three or four people standing close together, getting very wet in the snow.?They were looking at my car. I was looking at them. They pointed to the back of my car, and then I saw it: the rear windscreen of the car was in bits; a broken window on the coldest night of the year.?Great, just what we needed to endure in a half-hour trip home.?

?And then I saw them, through the falling snow, huddled together without actually touching each other, five people lying in the doorway of a resplendent new office block, just about escaping the falling snow.?I turned away and went back to the people who were still standing at my car, with its broken window.

?It was still snowing.?The people standing at my car were two Gardaí (Police) and the driver of the car that had hit mine.?The Gardaí just wanted to check insurance and Driver Licence details. They told me that the driver of the van had called them and they all waited until I got there, a good half hour later.?So glad it wasn’t ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy that I’d been to see that night.?The poor guys would still be waiting, all because of a broken window.

?The five homeless people would still have been waiting, too.?Perhaps they still are.?I turned back towards them. ‘They’re here every night’, one of the Gardaí said to me; ‘they’ve got a good spot here, despite the weather.’?And as if to show what a good spot it was, at that moment two volunteers arrived with warm food, blankets and, well, companionship. Two of the homeless people were actually already asleep, as one of the volunteers gently woke them.?Soon everyone was awake and enjoying their meal. From all the talking and banter, it was clear that this was a pretty regular occurrence. It was a really beautiful scene, despite the falling snow; despite the winter chill that had me shaking earlier but was now something I didn’t seem to notice anymore. ?

?The entire event lasted less than 20 minutes.?I turned to the Garda to say something but instead we just smiled at each other.?We both knew we were witnessing something very special, very moving and also very real. ?Here I am, 10 days later and I can’t stop thinking about those 20 minutes on a fierce cold night; Dublin’s streets providing the cushion for five people who call these streets ‘home’.

?We shivered a little as we drove off, the broken window providing unnecessarily excellent ventilation on the way home.?Actually, we were cold, freezing cold.?We warmed up with cups of tea and hot chocolate when we arrived, our own little home so warm and comforting.?

?The broken window is fixed.?Life goes on, as it always does.?Looks like homelessness is here to stay, if you’ll forgive the unintended pun.?But love for fellow human beings is here to stay also.?Those two volunteers on that very cold night gave such dignity to those five fellow human beings, as they warmed them with their presents and presence. They have warmed many other hearts and minds too.?And they repeat that on a daily basis, every day, and every night, of the year.

?I am so grateful for my life.?I am so lucky that I have a warm home to come home to.?Yes, we all have challenges in our lives.?But sometimes I forget that a broken window is simply, well, just another broken window.

By the way, I have the contact details of a great windscreen repair guy, if anyone’s interested??The broken window was no bother to him at all.

Gary xxxx