- maybe a bit weird, but he was a nice person to me when I needed it as a child... he made a difference that I still think back on fondly today...

Ok, well, there'll be glaring

Sad parts to what I'll be on about here

But they're only to provide context

And definitely not be the focal point

Of why I'm telling you about it

This takes place when I was a child

Around the age of 9 or so,

But it'd been happening before then

Every day after school, my brother

And I were awaited by kids for a beating

On our way home from school,

Knowing what awaited us each day,

We'd seek out the Parents-Secours signs

On the houses on the way to ours

Just to make it home safe

The neighborhood kids acted hostile against us

I didn't understand it at the time, but as an adult,

Recalling the words of some adults at the time

Telling me:  "I know why you can't go to Marie's house anymore."

And when I asked why, they said to me that they can't tell me

Thinking back on that, why would any adult say that to a child?

Maybe their children heard their parents' bitching and griping

About my parents?  If so, obviously their gripes were violent

For their kids to think it ok to treat us this way, or so I think now

But I really don't know.  Mean-spirited adults have very negative

Effects on how their own children behave, I've come to believe

But anyway, that's not the story.  The story is about our neighborhood

Mailman and how he witnessed our assaults after school

Many days during the week; he was around.  So we would walk

Together back home, and I was safe ... And our conversations were great

I can't say that I remember the specifics of those conversations

But the strong happy feeling remains in my memories

I think he enjoyed my company as well

When he was assigned to a new route in his job

He gave me a big bag of pennies and let me know he was going

We said goodbye then

I still remember him today

In those years, there weren't many

Trustworthy adults, and even though

He was a total stranger, he couldn't

Have been any nicer

This is a really good memory

Thought I'd share it as best

As I can.  He was simply a really

Very good, kind-hearted man

*Parents-Secours:  a city registered community initiative to help children in the neighborhood who need help when their parents aren't around... Registrants to the program get a big card they can put in their window.  So children who need their help, see their sign and ring their doorbell, they're supposed to help.  When I was in elementary school that's what was around anyway...