Went to visit a member of our church today that is at a VA Hospital in Menlo Park, about 45 minutes away from Oakland. Paul is a Vietnam Vet who used to live in a group home right near our church in Oakland. He was known in the community because he would walk up and down Grand Ave. the street that our church is on, all day. Paul was very popular in our church because he would always have great hats.

Seeing Paul today was great. He is now in the hospital because he would quit taking his medicine at the home and end up going off for days and weeks. He looked the best I had seen him in a long time. Very dark from being out in the sun daily. He has put on some weight and grown a goatee, so he looks pretty slick. Thankfully Paul didn't tell me, as he does sometimes, "hey you look fat." My usual response to him is, "you look old, and I can lose weight." But none of that today. He talked about the nurse who wants him to marry her 19 year old daughter, how he goes to church each Sunday, and how most of his friends are in wheelchairs in the hospital until they die.

The point, the moral of the story, I don't know. Paul is my friend, went to my church. I can't understand everything he says, and at moments I think he is out of his mind. Like so much of my life I showed up, and that is just it.