How did you end your homelessness?

Nikki Petry, Been homeless over 2000 days in my life

—I was living in my storage unit with my dog and maybe a cat or 2 or 6…no electricity or running water, sneaking in and out staying quiet and in the shadows

Despite the fact that the units were directly across from a local high school I had graduated from, and right next to a fire station, I pretty much went about my business unnoticed. The only other person who was there regularly was some old man who collected truck fulls of stinky cans from all the local bars and had a few units he would come sort his cans in to take to recycle. He kept to himself, I took the long way when he was there so I didn't have to smell the cans and just to stay off anyone's radar.

In this stereotypical world we live in i didn't fit the role of homeless person. Some would say i am pretty, I lived with all of my stuff so i changed my clothes everyday, showered at my sons or at a friends, and I always had my dog with me. Everyone notices a basset hound for some reason. So Holly and I always stood out, and i am pretty sure no one ever suspected a thing, definitely not that we were homeless. Just that I walked my dog a lot, someone would later say to me.

But the can man took note, he saw us there everyday, i would quickly walk to my unit, open it, and we would duck under the door and close it from inside and lock it. When she needed to go out we would go back out. Before long her nose would always lead us right to him, the minute i opened the door she would just dart over to him, ugh, Holly get back here, but she was already waist deep in some good ole belly rubbing while he fumbled around in his truck with his other hand, always producing some sort of steakish like treat for her. Her being a major lover of all rubs, loves and grubs, she couldn't of loved him more, or anyone else for that matter. ( Holly loved everyone, unconditionally, all the time, no matter what. She was amazing, she is so deeply missed. For those that did her wrong, there time has finally come, as i knew it someday would. Rest in Paradise my sweet baby girl xo )

Holly he stinks, I would think to myself, (to lost in my own sad situation to realize it wasn't him that stunk it was the cans that smelt). He would always offer me water and ask if i needed anything. Nope I would just keep my head down, embarrassed because I knew, that he knew. I did my best to avoid the whole situation from about st patty's day til fathers day when I blacked out from the heat while riding my bike from the campground to storage.

It was the middle of the day, on a good 7–8 mile ride, it was HOT as Hades and next thing i knew it was almost night fall and i was laying in the tall tall grass on a hill. My head being the most downward part of my body and my legs going up the hill. I still had my 50 lb backpack on my back so my back was completely arched over it and all i could hear was a slight trickle of running water.

Wtf is going on, i thought as I tried my best to sit myself up while laying down hill, and realizing parts of my body hurt like hell. The inside of my top left thigh had already started to bruise pretty bad I could see. As i squinted to keep the bright setting sun from my eyes, when i did finally get upright again, i quickly realized that my nose felt broken to.

Where was I? What on earth?….then I saw them, and they saw me, and i knew right where i was. Not so much why or what was going on, but that father and his little girl riding their bikes past me while trying to stop and not crash in to one another, let me know i was still on the bike trail and they were there too, probably having a really nice bike ride until that lady sat up in the tall grass and scared the crap out of them. lol.

They were so sweet, rushing over to help me the rest of the way up. They brushed me off and got me to the bench. They gave me a water and offered to call 911. I told them i was fine, (i wasn't fine but not about to go to jail for the 420 greens I had in my backpack) They helped me find my bike and bend my tire back so it was rideable again, begged me to let them call 911 as i was still disoriented some, no no please, I am ok, i promised them as they boarded their bikes, Thank you so much for helping me. No problem they said, they wanted to stay longer but they didn't want to miss Fathers Day Dinner they said, as they rode off. We had not exchanged names, I do regret now not knowing.

Wait, Its Fathers Day? I was going to storage to feed the cats, (we could take the dog camping but you ever tried to keep a cat in a tent, haha, dont its way to in tents, lmao) I had left the campground around 1:30 in the afternoon, what time was it now? Holy crap I had been laying there for like 7–8 hours.

I can only speculate on what happened, judging by the bruises i got over the next 24 hrs I must of just blacked out, went over the top of my bike, (my 1967 John Deere beach cruiser with original treds still in use, man that bike was fast a/f, true story, (and if you have my damn bike give it back you thieving jerk)) hit my thigh on the handlebars , the bruise on my nose was from my sunglasses I guess, .. over the handlebars, probably face first into the tall grass, thankfully, pushed them into my face im thinking.

But none of that mattered just yet, because now i was all alone again and i had to get to shelter, storage was closer then the campground but if i wasn't there by 10 i wasn't getting in so that meant i had to ride fast. I was hurt to bad to ride to fast, plus my tire was bent a little still. It was a really long ride.

I finally made it there. It was after 10. I was too late, (you could get out after 10, but not in). I sat down next to the gate, leaning against a building, i pulled my knees to my chest tight and buried my head into my arms and just started sobbing. What a horrible day it had been, I mean life already just sucked, i was homeless, very very heart broken, and ive hated fathers day since my dad died when i was 17. Can't this day just end already.

Ad to that, I was hurt, hot, tired, hungry and even more upset by being locked out. All i wanted to do was get into my unit and lay down on my bed, I felt like i had been hit by a car or something. Just then, I heard feet shuffling towards me and the gate started to open. I looked up and into the same beautiful piercing blue eyes as my daddy had, just as a hand was extended out to help me up. It was an angel to me, was all i could see.

It was the can man. He helped me into my unit, got my bike inside too as i told him a little about myself and how i came about being there on that particular day. What i thought had happened. He retrieved some cold bottles of water from his truck, speaking very little he just went about making sure I was inside, helped me up onto my bed ( it was 6ft in the air on top of 4 antique luggage trunks) I pointed out the locations of my lanterns and he got them lit for me.

When he was sure I was ok up there, and i could see, he said he had to go close up his unit for the night but would be back to check on me in a little while. He closed my garage door and I just sat there in total shock and amazement. Who was this angel sent to me with the eyes of my daddy I so longed to see? And on fathers day, this particularly bad fathers day?…He didn't smell bad at all, he was just so kind and sweet and good to me. But Why? I didn't have anything to offer him, I had been kind of unfriendly to him in the past, when he would try to talk to me about Holly. I always just kept my answers short, probably snotty sounding and walked away quickly. I surely would not of spoken to me again. He had already pulled my heart strings a little at that point i do believe.

Before long there was a light tap on my door and up it went, my heart dropped thinking I had been busted by the cops or the owners. When i was inside i always kept that door barred so no one could just barge in on me like that. But I had not gotten back down and locked it, I was in no shape for that. Thankfully it was just him. He had put something in front of the main gate sensor so it thought there was a vehicle in the way and wouldn't shut, and he had gone across the street to taco bell and had got me some tacos and a Pepsi. Said he had seen me walking from there regularly and i usually always have a bottle or can of Pepsi with me, he had also noted.

I made a little note to myself that night also, that stinky, (hes not stinky,lol) scruffy looking old can man…the can man….he was GOOD GOOD people…as a matter of fact, he is probably one of the very few genuinely Good people i have been gratefully blessed by having met in my life. He doesn't collect the cans because he is poor (Iowa is a .5 cent return state for cans and bottles and where I lived at the time). He isn't poor at all, he had 3 garages full of cans and bottles, do you know how much money that is? Me neither but I know its a lot.

I would of burnt up that summer in that metal storage unit if it hadn't been for my can man. He went and bought me a portable fan, it ran on 18v cordless drill batteries, and a 4 pack of batteries (that's $100 easy) to go with it. He would charge them for me and bring me newly charged ones everyday to run my fan on. Taking with him the dead, to recharge again, And he checked on me every single day after that first meeting, always making sure i had food and something to drink for myself and my critters. Which i usually always did. On the occasion i didn't, or hadn't gotten that far yet in my day, he was always right on it to make sure we were fed and cared for. And he never forgot about us, even once when he went to jail to serve a month on a driving charge, he checked on me daily still.

As winter neared he approached me for the first time, on a more personal level. You see, from the start, he didn't come at me, with ten thousand ?s about how i had gotten to that metal storage unit. ?s I wouldn't of wanted to talk about then anyways. No those wounds were much to fresh for that. ( It was apparent to anyone who looked at me longer then 2 seconds, that i was heartbroken) He didn’t judge me, he did not assume anything what so ever. If he did, he didnt ever act or say anything to me about it. He was just there, he cared about me, about us. It didn't matter to him, what we had or didn't have, or what we could do for him, he didn't care where we were from, and He has never once made me feel like a burden or any trouble to him what so ever.

It was getting cold quick and he had been waiting for a double garage unit, (at a near by apartment complex where he had other garages rented, Ok so he might be a bit of a “collector” of things) (hoarder is such an ugly word to me) to open up for rent, which it had, and he had snatched it right up for us. Woo hoo we were going to have electricity. I was so excited the day we moved, finally i could cook and eat again. Which I did from day 1, throwing a pot roast in my crockpot on the 1st trip over that was absolutely amazing, delicious and needed by the end of the day when we were finally done.

He knew i was very resourceful, pioneerish is what i call it. He knew we had suffered a great in justice, to no fault of our own. He knew we had lost our beloved farm, and then had to watch as some horrible wretched ginger witch just destroyed it and all our years of hard work out of nothing but pure evil & hatred. He knew that i had trusted her with my entire life and she in turn had just demolished it. Even going so low as to steal quite a bit of our stuff, while she had everything i owned in her possession for 9 months until we were finally able to get another place to put it all. If Your married to a millionaire and stealing my family heirlooms? Straight stole my sons freaking horse, who steals a little kids horse? Google Earth will even show you her, right there, in her yard, probably still today. Your truly a monster to me. There is no need for vile creatures like her in this world.

Nothing was done legally or rightfully in any way. From her initial court papers she filed to have us evicted, stating it was for the unpaid water bill…We had well water, we didn't have a water bill, but the judge did not care about that fact not one bit and ordered us out. There was nothing what so ever i could do about it, i had not signed a lease since the 1st yr we moved in there. See i had quickly started working for her, was her assistant in every way she ever required assistance, & i never did her or her family any wrong, they said i was family, and i was stupid enough to believe them and trust them and in my comfortness i forgot how important it is to sign your leases every year. Comfortable or not.

Trouble was I had gotten pretty comfy and life was looking pretty good, right up to the point where i felt brave enough to ? her on why she had her “army,” her “crew,” put the family up the street, who lived in the very 1st house i ever did for her. Why was all their stuff in a big roll off in the driveway? They had been there this whole time, as long as us almost. There was nothing in the paper, i paid to have court records searched, there was nothing for that address. So why was everything they owned out side in the driveway in the dumpster and where were they? What had she done, I demanded to know?…( I was very troubled by the contents of that roll off. I’m talking it was early february and there was little kids christmas gifts with pieces of wrapping still stuck to them… beautiful little girls dress’, tags still on them.. lots of things that were very recently bought, things no one would just throw away)

How dare I question her business, oh no…She didn't like that, And so she showed me what she had done. First hand, What she does for sport, her entire family as a matter of fact. Because that is who came and threw everything we owned into the ditch in front of our adorable farm, her and her kids, and the neighbor from up the street who she threatened to be next had he not come to assist that day. She somehow was even allowed to specifically request it to be done on the up coming wednesday…(.I knew none of this at the time, i was trying to save my farm, i didn't have time to watch the weather.)

That Wednesday was the only day in a very long time that we were scheduled to receive what ended up being almost an inch of rain, i dont remember the exacts of it all now but basically the only day in a very long hot 3 month time span, that this area received any amount of rainfall. It was almost strategically planned to start about 15 min after the last of our belongings were just chucked into the ditch, they changed the 2 locks, jumped in their big fancy trucks and off they went. The sheriff ordered me off the property when they 1st arrived in the morning, i wasn't even allowed to walk threw my own home again, my safe place, the place i seldom ever left, we were supposed to grow old there…i was never allowed in it again.

We had just reached the street to survey the damages and the sky turned almost dark as night, coming up over the hill behind our house and it started to pour, it was about 4 pm…it didn't let up until about 4 am and everything we had spent our entire lives working for was still in that ditch.

Yes, we were hurting very deeply. He also knew we had started to heal some, He had seen me change over the months since we had 1st met, i no longer avoided him, like before, quite the difference, now he was one of the very few things or people who brought to my sad face, a great big smile. He was always so good to my girl and happy to see her, which in turn made me so happy because he is such a good soul and i adore him and love to see him smile.

He didn't have to do any of the things he did for us. Continues to do for us. From the outside looking in on our situation, if some one were to tell you to pick, who had been homeless, and who had saved who just by giving them hope and reminding them that there is still some good left in this world, most everyone would label us wrong, judging by our appearance alone. And what we both would spend our days doing, people would just see him collecting cans, usually a little dirty, long scraggly white grey hair, long beard, away from his truck, hat on, doing what he likes to do, crazy as it seems. He doesn't have to, he owns more then 1 house, they are all paid for, no wife or kids, several vehicles, 10 rented units that i know of, i'm sure there is more, some amazing stuff, it's his, he wants to have it and keep it and we have talked about this alot over the years, Can Man is living and doing exactly what he enjoys doing, and i am so very grateful for that.

Next, they might see me, just out walking my sweet girl, assuming i was doing just that. Dressed decent, in clean clothes, walking my cute dog. I know exactly how people did see that situation, and it was never that he was going home to a home and i was headed to my metal box with my cute little dog. The exact opposite i'm sure. With him being the homeless and me the hero. Which was totally not the case,

He is by far my biggest hero, He alone restored atleast enough of my faith to carry me through those next few cold months. We were snug as a bug in a rug in the garage, my husband, my Holly and I, and so so grateful for the power to run our space heaters, & microwave which helped us to Feel the slightest bit human and alive again.

The sunday before Christmas as i sat up on my bed making photo albums for each of our raised grown children. I heard Holly gasping for air, i cant go into it, but she had a stroke, she lived the week out, through Christmas, she got to spend time with her boys who were her babies as well as mine, goodbyes were said, hearts shattered, and we assured our sweet baby girl would be cold and suffer no more. On the 29th of December, on a bitter cold night, We laid her to rest, not on her farm, next to the love of her life, our boy basset, Miles, but in a dear friends yard, not far from the garage she last called home, knowing she is in our hearts for always, no greater dog has ever walked this earth, her love always so pure and kind. I feel her, and I hear her all the time, by now i think i know whos with me, in this world and in the next. She is definitely with me.

We finally moved into a home, the following Feb it was the year 2016 already. And we had been gone from the farm almost 4 yrs, we had not been “home” in almost 4 yrs….that was almost 2 years ago now and it doesn't make any more sense to me now then it did when it was happening. It was one crazy, made up, illegal thing after the next, our proof of circumstances was far greater then hers, but her old mans pockets were alot deeper then ours.

I guess at the end of the day, the only thing that matters in this screwed up world, for way too many undeserving people, are a bunch of little pieces of paper with some numbers written on them. Not morals, and good judgement, hungry babies or cold families, nope just a bunch of stupid little pieces of paper and some people who think their own biased screwed up opinions should be what shapes the world.….how disgusting is that?