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MoreShoesthan JustMary Ann Kirby50 • JULY 2020
Shower Power is a mobileshower unit used to provideshowers to the homelessin downtown Jackson.This is from one of their weeklyShower Power Facebook updates–written by Mary Ann Kirby,board member and volunteer.William first showed up to Shower Power back in April. He livesbehind one of the abandoned buildings right down the road from usand had probably seen us for months before deciding to come closeenough to see what was going on. And when he did come, he didn’tspeak. He was skiddish, and rather than overwhelm him, we’d makequick eye contact but let him be.He continued to come–each time getting a little closer. One daywe were able to offer him a bottle of water. A couple of weeks later,a boxed lunch. He’d grumble some type of unintelligible acknowledgementwhen spoken to, which was still a long way from wherewe started.He eventually got to the point where he’d walk right up amongstus–he still wouldn’t speak but he knew there was hot coffee, or asausage biscuit. I eventually said, “What’s your name?” “William,”he replied. It’s the first time I’d heard his voice. “My name is MaryAnn–like Gilligan’s Island!” He grumbled and walked off.We’ve done this for weeks.So today when he walked up, I went straight to him and said,“Hey William! What’s going on?” thinking if I asked him a moreopen-ended question I may get a different type of response. “Justthought I’d come see what y’all doin’,” he mumbled. My heartexploded. His gravelly voice, raw and full of grit, was music to myears. It’s a huge turning point–at least for me.I immediately noticed his shoes. The sole of his left boot wasattached only on one side. “William, if we have a pair of shoes inyour size would you be willing to wear them? What size do youwear?” He looked down at his boots, grumbled the size at me, andI went inside to find some. But we didn’t have any. And it didn’tmatter anyway–because when I went back outside he was gone.But I couldn’t get him off my mind. We’d come so far–and heneeded shoes.So, this afternoon I went and bought some–along with a pair ofgood thick wool socks–and I went back downtown to find William.He was exactly where I expected him to be. He was lying on hisback, legs bent and crossed at the knees, with a completely burnedcigarette butt in his mouth and he was covered in popcorn. I almostlaughed with how childlike he appeared.I parked the car and walked straight up to him with the newshoes and socks I’d just purchased. “William! Look! Shoes!” Itsounded completely ridiculous even in my own ears. He sat up andI all of a sudden found myself to be very self-conscious of the factthat I was all up in his space. This was his home. “These should bewide enough to make your feet feel good and they have memoryfoam insoles!” (Mary Ann...stop talking!) “And these socks are wooland can be worn for a long time before you need new ones!”He laughed. He LAUGHED! Like I’m pretty sure I soundedjust as ridiculous to him as I sounded to myself but it made himlaugh! And then I laughed!I watched as he struggled to get his boot off. He wasn’t evenwearing socks. It made me so glad I’d gotten some. He first put onhis right sock and then slid his foot easily into the new sneaker. Andonce I could see that the shoes fit, and feeling awkward about thewhole exchange anyway, I wished him a good afternoon and startedback to my car.As I walked off he said, “Which one was Mary Ann? The richone or the model?” I turned around, completely wide-eyed at thefact that he knew my name and said, “ . . . the rich one was Mrs.Howell, the model was Ginger. Mary Ann was the sweet one!”He laughed his gravelly laugh. It was our first conversation–ever.I can’t wait for our next one.You can follow us weekly on Facebook at Shower Power MSor learn more about Shower Power at www.showerpower.ms.Hometown MADISON • 51
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