John

A gentle, open man with a story that captivates and opens your eyes. 

I have learned so many valuable lessons throughout my experiences with this project. But one that continually reoccurs is that every person you meet has a story, a battle their fighting or have fought that is worth knowing. At first glance people's looks frequently deceive them. I feel as if when someone first looks at a person who is homeless they often jump to conclusions like they got themselves there or they could easily get themselves out. But, as I speak with people living on the streets or resorting to soup kitchens for a warm meal, I come to realize that just like you and I, they are all so unique, each story so immensely different from the next and putting them under the same umbrella, grouping them together is like saying an apple is exactly the same as an orange. Sure, they both are fruit but they taste and look so incredibly different. Every person I have met has a unique story, a unique reasoning for living the life they do. Whether it be alcohol or drug addiction, one bad decision or experience, a life changing accident or situations that were completely out of their control, situations like John's, from the doors open were born into.

For John life began with more struggle, with a greater setback than most of us Canadians could even begin to imagine. John grew up on a First Nations reserve up by Smithers. Life on the reserve was very isolated from the rest of society. This reserve was 32 miles from Smothers which was the nearest town and as you can imagine left and very isolated from basic resources and healthcare that we so often take for granted. But John struggles were much greater than the isolation he grew up in. John was born to parents who were alcoholics, his mother drinks throughout her pregnancy causing him to be born with fetal Alcohol syndrome, that had a significant impact on his development, sending him back for the rest of his life. As if this wasn't enough for a young innocent child to be born with, one day while his parents were heavily intoxicated driving in their car, they decided that John was not their child and threw him out of a moving vehicle, leaving him all alone and with permanent brain damage. Fortunately for John a family within the reserve took him in and raised him as their own, his story however was carried with him for the rest of his life. Due to his brain damage and lack of an education John never knew how to read or write, he explained to me that the most he can do is write his name, seeming as if his life was a never ending cycle of setbacks. When John Gruber older he got in some trouble with the law and came down here to Vancouver appreciating the resources and opportunities that were available to him here, he never went back. John had been living on the streets, sleeping in the cold every night. He has recently come across housing in a hotel after living on the streets for nearly 5 years, making his life just a little bit easier.

Every time I write a story I do my best to see the good, to bring the positive side to wrap up the story, but if I'm being completely honest with you I am having a hard time to find the feel good, warm fuzzy side to the story. John story was powerful, it was heavy and raw and so real that I honestly found myself holding back tears listening to him. But as I reflect back on my conversation with him, I remember his courage, his remarkable, beautiful strength to soldier on when everything seem to be holding him back and his strength to be so open and vulnerable about the toughest times in his life. Having the courage to be so open with anyone, nonetheless a stranger is scary and having the strength to be able to do that, I really admire. If there was one thing that I have learned from John is that as corny as it sounds never, ever judge a book by its cover never assume you know everything there is to know about a person or everything that is worth going just by first glance because you never know someone story until you ask and you never know what they have been through and seen that has got them to where they are.
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