We hadn't heard from Tom for several weeks, which we hoped was a good thing. We knew his time at the extended stay motel was up on January 23rd, and we discussed whether we should check in and see if he was doing ok (i.e. needed more money) or let him be independent and stay on his own. We knew if he needed anything he would call so we decided to let it go another week.
A few weeks ago I sent him a text that just said something like, "thinking about you and wondering how you're doing. drop me a line and let me know if you need anything." And then I didn't hear anything for about a week. Which was odd. He was always pretty responsive.
Then I went out of town and kinda forgot about it as I was caught up with work.
Tom called last week and he's doing pretty good. Not great, but he's doing ok. He's still in the extended stay motel - he's made enough money to extend it another month, but he doesn't have very much money for much else. He still doesn't have his driver's license and I offered again to drive him to the DMV.
His job isn't turning out to be the money-maker that he thought it would be which is a disappointment. So he's basically making about minimum wage which is tough to live on if you need to catch up on things.
He's looking for other employment and grateful for what he has...a job, co-workers who live nearby who give him a ride, food to eat and a bed to sleep in.
So for now, he's holding strong, but I feel for the man. He's working 6 days a week and is pretty exhausted. But considering where he was just a few months ago, freezing as he slept in his van, very little food, no job, he's come a long way.
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