Senor R. is a colorful character in our town. He's a special needs adult whose favorite thing is yellow trucks...
Somehow he has acquired at least eight of them, has tied them together, and hauls them around town wherever he goes...
I met up with him outside my house yesterday morning and thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot with him. I wasn't sure how he would feel about it, but obviously he loved it. He kept laughing loudly, pointing, and saying camera and photo in Spanish, which are spelled camera and foto...
I had never really gotten close to his truck collection, so it was interesting to see the detail with which he had arranged things. I never noticed this, but he has littler yellow trucks stacked in his big yellow trucks. Here we can see that he has hung a metal ring over part of his truck stacked in another truck. I'm not sure what he does with it...
I also noticed a lovely white plastic rose tied to a metal part of one of his trucks. He seems to be somewhat of a sentimental man...
He had a great interest showing me how he carries his water bottle around...
During the photo shoot, I noticed he had something in his hands...
I asked him to show me what it was, and he did...
Radishes from our garden. Glad we could help!
Thanks for listening.
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13 comments:
Aww, bless his heart.
Not sure how I found your blog, but I sure love coming here. And this post about your special needs passerby, just lovely! Thank you for sharing!
So glad that you were able to talk to him and brighten his day a little. A lot of people would just look the other way.
Ah, the kindness in your heart shows - to see how much the "foto" shoot meant to him - thanks for sharing!
I bet you just made his day!
I love how he carries the water bottle around! I wonder how his interest in the trucks started? I'm glad he let you take the pictures...it's nice to see the individuality of this man.
Morning Jen :-}
There is a 'special needs' guy that has lived around here his whole life. Seeings how I lived one street over and one block up from the time I was 8 till I was 17, and then moved into this house 16 years ago, I have known him a long time!!!
His name is Dave, he has an extrodinaily low voice, a totally heart warming smile, enormous hands that envelops other guys hands when he shakes hands, and the nature of a very young child.
As I said, I grew up knowing about Dave, seeing him around the area, etc.. And then we moved, I went to college, got married, etc. and hadn't seen him in years. The very first time that I saw him again, I was pumping gas and he was waiting for the bus at the stop on that corner. He always waves at everybody and shouts a warm Hell-o!!I went over and asked where he was headed, etc.. After talking for but a minute, he suddenly bounced and said, "I know you!!!" Eleven years had passed, and yet he remembered me AND was excited to see me again :-D
Dave loves birds. He'll stop in our alley and talk to all of the ones in the bushes. Walking down a street, he'll talk to any he sees flying by.
He also absolutely loved the horn we had had on our suburbans. It sounded sort of like a boats fog horn. We'd pass him somplace and honk and wave and he'd bounce while laughing and waving back. Not sure which one of us enjoyed it more!
You often see him pushing his lawn mowers around. His mom had taught him how to use them and he has different customers in the area. Some more than a mile and a half away. While he gets paid for his work, his mom had insisted that he get paid a considerable low fee. She did not want him having much money on him and thus being a tempting target for 'bad people'.
Dave is now at least in his mid sixties. His mom died about three years ago, and you can tell he is eating differently because he has definetly put on weight. He has a sister and so now a days he specds some time here and some time there.
He was always hanging around the practice field of the local high school during football practices, and attending all of their games, so they had made him an officaial assistant coach. Actually, he is a moral booster! But the leather team jacket they gave him, states coach on the back :-}
I think every neighborhood needs a "Dave". Somebody whom never fails to make us smile with their warm hearted greeting. Somebody who with out knowing they are doing so, remind us that there are a lot of things to smile about in the world - simple things. And somebody whom we all pull together to watch out for.
I have definetly been blessed by knowing Dave!
I bet your guy got his first yellow truck as a child and might still have it.
While you enjoyed taking pictures of your guy, and being shown his treasures, I bet he will remember the encounter far longer than you will, and it will be a cherished memory for him!!! Godd job Jen!
Loved the twist at the end. If it was me, I probably would have been upset with him at the begining for picking my garden, but after "meeting" him, it would have been impossible! I just started laughing when I saw that. If you end up with no radishes this year, at least you know they went to a good home. LOL!
Stopping by to say a quick hello, hope all is well with you and family. What a sweet post! I love his yellow trucks.
Terri (the jelly lady)
Ahh I think I met him before. He was hanging around Ed's condo's when we were staying there once! :)
Great post!
Hey, those are good pics of Senor R. So funny, he always calls me "Lisa" or "Christy". :)
What a really neat story. Thanks for sharing! :)
Jenny, you have a good eye for a story. You could be a journalist.
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