Joseph

Joe came to Nashville 6 weeks ago with all of his small savings and some clothes.   Like many others who came to Nashville, he’s hoping to break into the music industry.  He has been singing ever since he was a young child, and can play several instruments.  He left his instruments at home with his parents, because he was traveling by bus and couldn’t carry them with him.   I later thought it’s a good thing that he left the instruments, because his clothes got stolen after being in Nashville for 2 weeks.  If he had had the instruments with him, they might have been stolen along with the clothes.  He has been looking for permanent work, but hasn’t found any, and his money has already run out.  He’s been doing temporary jobs to get by.

Though he introduced himself to me as “Joe”, he later proudly told me that his full name is “Joseph”, that he was named after Jesus’ father.   His grandfather is a preacher.  Joe loves God and his faith is what keeps him going everyday.  When his arm got injured on his last temporary job, he was dismayed that he won’t be able to work, but then later thought that it maybe a blessing in disguise to get him out of homelessness.  When I met him, he was sitting in this smelly doorway, waiting to go see the worker’s comp lawyer to talk about a settlement for his injury.  He hopes the settlement will be big enough to rent a place to live, and maybe have some left to cut a batch of CD to launch his singing career.  All he wants is a chance. . .