When I approached Ramone, he was sitting on a curb hacking the bottom of his jeans off with a pair of scissors. I first noticed his baseball cap that greeted me with a cheerful “Aloha!”. As we shook hands, he raised his head to show me glassy blue eyes that stood in stark contrast to his weary, weathered face, along with a thick white moustache that spilled from above his mouth to form a semicircle. Jean scraps lay on the asphalt beside his worn backpack and tepid Whataburger coffee cup. A faded Tigers softball logo was barely visible on his baggy hoodie.
Ramone was born and raised in Austin; in fact, his childhood home was less than a 10 minute walk from Church Under the Bridge!
“Behind that building there, called 9th and San Marcos. That’s where I grew up.”
He was born in 1942, meaning that he was thirteen years old when McDonald’s was founded (to give an age reference). During our conversation he reminisced on the way his neighborhood had been during his childhood, with large woods, a two-lane I-35, and a flea market on the other side. During winters, he and his five brothers would slide down the icy hill across both roads.
“We had somebody looking out, and they’d tell us when there’s no cars coming.”
Out of his brothers, only he is homeless.
“They all got their families, their homes, and everything; I’m the only one that’s … homeless.”
He still keeps in touch with all of them, but doesn’t choose to ask them for help.
“I don’t ask for help from them. They got their own families, so I don’t bother them.”
***
Ramone has two sons; The elder lives in Pittsburgh and the younger in Austin. While estranged from his Austin son, he still keeps up with his son in Pittsburgh. The mother of his boys has passed away.
Ramone used to work as an electrician; he had his license for over 30 years.
“I was making 18 dollars an hour. Plus, I had a lot of side jobs.”
Over weekends, he’d drive his truck and tools to work odd jobs and make a little extra money.
“But now, I don’t have anything.”
***
Ramone’s homelessness started after his divorce with his second wife. Only keeping his truck, he let her take everything. At the time, his mindset was to move on and forget the past.
“But then I lost my job, then I lost my truck, and that’s how I ended up here.”
Now, Ramone panhandles during the day to get money for his essentials and stays around I-35 during the night. A big issue for him is mobility since bus fare is hard to come by.
“That’s what I usually try to do, hustle me a little money so I can buy me a bus pass. Because the buses are $2.50.”
However, even in his present circumstances, Ramone says he still has hope. Raised Catholic, he has grown up with a knowledge of God, and it’s his perception of God as a Provider that gives him this hope. On each wrists he prominently displays a wristband with bold lettering: “GOD IS BIG ENOUGH.”