Brian

Along Wabash Street, during the Flickr Worldwide Photo Walk, I encountered Brian.  He was sitting amongst construction debris with a sign saying “anything will help”.  I stooped down and told Brian about the $2 Portrait project and Flickr Photowalk.  He rubbed his chin thinking and muttered “let’s see what I can tell you about my story.”

He was a talker for sure.  Brian is 55 years old.  He just qualified for Section 8 housing and is moving into an apartment in Humboldt Park.  As a young man, he was going to school in accounting at Roosevelt University but had to drop out for financial reasons and went to work in construction at the age of 20.  Brian performed many trades, including drywall, carpentry and roofing.  He was a certified roofer and that was his main trade.  Brian is no longer working due to acute COPD as a result of his construction work.

Brian comes from a large family; he’s one of 10 siblings.  He began to describe each of them…and I lost track of the detail.  The one thing that stuck out, and it seemed very farfetched, is that his "...brother is a doctor and founded Cancer Centers of America."  Brian also described his 26 year alcohol addiction; and that he hasn’t had a drink in 14 years.

As I was speaking with Brian, I noticed he had a penny stuck in his ear.  “That’s my good luck”…no further explanation provided. [See photo]

I congratulated Brian on his 14 years sober and gave him $2.  He thanked me and shook my hand with a strong grip.

Taken 8/23/15