Brothers

When he said they were brothers, the nurse arched an eyebrow in disbelief. Let me back up and set the stage.

Win and Al are two close friends who have been around the Homeless Center for a long time. The two men provide active support to each other.

Al was taking a big step toward sobriety when he was hospitalized by a sudden illness. Win immediately went to see him in the ICU. When he picked up the phone to ask for admission, he told the nurse he was Al’s brother. He was told he could visit for a few minutes. He went through the doors which glided open and headed toward the nurse’s station.

"You’re Al’s brother?" asked the nurse with an arched eyebrow.

(Note that Al is African-American, and Win is Caucasian.)

"Uh…step-brothers," replied Win.

The nurse paused for a beat, half-smiled and said, "All right. Ten minutes."

Since Al is very dark-skinned, and Win is very pale, the nurse’s doubt was understandable, but what trumped that doubt was Win’s insistence that he and his friend are indeed brothers.

What is a brother, at least in the world of the homeless? It certainly has less to do with blood than with a bond born of respect, affection and rough times shared. Many of the homeless I see every day have burned many family bridges behind them. Whether they neglected responsibilities, blew through family resources, walked out or were rejected, the homeless are usually out of touch with their past families of blood or marriage. For them family becomes the network of relationships, the bridges of connection, they form right now, today.

The old saying holds that the past is prologue, presumably a prologue to the present. Maybe for the homeless, it is more accurate to say that the present is the prologue to the future, a future they must create fresh every day by the relationships they choose to cherish and choose to affirm to the world, even dubious nurses. Three cheers, then, to Al and Win for taking that important step toward brotherhood which transcended their past and their race.