The Amazing American Who Let Us Stay In Her Trailer
Homelessness has unfortunately woven its way into my life multiple times, starting from my childhood
When I was a child, my family encountered an “Amazing American” who helped us when we didn’t have a place to go.
This woman didn’t know us but sacrificed for a mother with two children who needed a place to stay until we could get back on our feet.
Most people in America have never been in a position where they didn’t know where they were going to lay their heads that night.
Homelessness has unfortunately woven its way into my life multiple times, starting from my childhood and, as I previously wrote, once as an adult.
To this day, I don’t know what it feels like to call a place my home, and it’s a hard concept to wrap my head around—staying in one location for the rest of my life—despite how much I hate the instability of constantly moving.
Instead, I am just thankful that I have a roof over my head, no matter where that roof is. Maybe my bar is incredibly low, but this minimal appreciation stems from decades ago.
How we encountered this “Amazing American” originated from an unfortunate living situation with a family member.
We had recently moved to upstate New York to live with a family member in her house so my mother could further her career in nursing. It was a situation that was supposed to be charitable on my family member’s part, but it quickly became hostile.
I was young, so my memories are a bit scrambled. But after talking with my sister about this—who is four years older than me—she filled in the details of our abrupt exit from their home.
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I do remember not liking this family member because they were scary to me. She was aggressive and mean. One evening, I walked out of my bedroom and she saw me, which triggered her to scream at me.
My sister recalls that I froze in fright and started peeing myself, which made her even angrier. This event prompted my sister to tell my mom what happened, and then everything changed.
I remember getting off the school bus and my mother was there waiting for me. We were leaving because she wasn’t going to have her little boy in such an abusive environment.
Once again, my memory is spotty, but I remember staying at a Motel 6 and going to school. I don’t think anyone in my school knew what was going on with us.
One day, my mother told us that we were going to be staying with this woman that she met, who offered to help us on such short notice.
This wasn’t a wealthy woman with a massive house and living a life of abundance. This was a woman who had a spare room in her trailer in the nearby trailer park.
I had never met this woman before, but I never felt unsafe staying in her trailer. Once again, my memories are spotty about my time living there, but I generally remember how I felt around that time.
My mother always conveyed to me that this situation was temporary and we would soon have our own place.
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God bless my mother because I don’t know how she did it at that time, but somehow we successfully utilized that one bedroom for a couple of months (my timeline could be slightly off, but it was a little while).
Over the years, I’ve thought about this situation from a multitude of angles. I think I’m a relatively generous person, but I don’t know if I could have three strangers stay in my home for an indefinite period, even if they were paying me a modest amount.
I don’t know the arrangement my mother and she had, but I do know I felt safe there. I wasn’t nearly as anxious staying there as I was living with my family member who seemingly hated that I was in her home.
It’s sad to say this, but sometimes it’s strangers who will care more about you than blood will.
Despite facing these hardships as a child, they have made me more thankful for the small things in life and aspects of American life that we take for granted at times.
I am thankful that people like that woman exist in our country.
If you'd like to contribute your own "Amazing Americans" story, which will be posted here and on Substack, send me a private message or email me adam@wrongspeak.net
tough times but great story!