Relaxing on the hotel plaza the morning of my son’s wedding day, he approached me and asked if I could donate to the homeless. I asked if he had heard of $2 Portraits. He had not, however when I explained, he agreed to participate.
Charles is 53 years old and is from Mansfield, Ohio. He’s been in Columbus for about a year since he suffered a stroke. The doctors told him he probably would not walk or speak again. He walks with a cane, speaks pretty clearly and is very happy the doctors were wrong. Most of Charles’ family is in Alabama and he gets to see them occasionally. He lives with his wife in Columbus - they are able to rent a bedroom in the basement of a house from what he’s able to collect. Charles said his wife is in worse shape than he is.
Before his stroke, Charles worked in several different industries. He was in real estate for a while, ran a liquidation business and his real passion was being a cook. His specialty was cajun food and breakfast. He’d love to set up a stand or food truck somewhere and be able to get back to cooking. During this part of the conversation with Charles, I could see the smile break out on his face and his eyes light up. Engaged in conversation, I wasn’t able to capture that in the photo, but I know he walked away from our chat happier than when we began.
Taken 5/12/18
