Sunday, February 10, 2008

Update: Craig's Home Gets Upgrade

It's been several weeks now that Craig has been living in his new apartment, but just this past week he was able to fall back and enjoy the feeling of landing in his own bed. Until late last week Craig had just been sleeping on the floor in his new place but after a few clicks on the computer and a short drive across town Craig now has a proper place to rest. I had made a few calls to some churches to see if there were any donated mattresses or beds laying around but had not had any luck when the obvious hit me. The answer was in the name. Lets try Craigslist to find a bed for Craig! A few hours later we were in the van picking up a box spring and mattress for $20 from a lady whose roommate had just moved out. You can see Craig pictured here touching his new bed and then below taking a dive on his back making sure everything was sturdy. Craig is adjusting well to having his own place and says that he always pays his rent early and makes sure to try to get groceries when he can afford them to keep his roommate (the apartment owner) happy. He hasn't however mastered the art of cooking just yet. Early last week he was at the Urban Ministry Center working on his GED lessons when he popped in my office and said "oh crap Rob, I think I left the oven on in the house." We drove over to the apartment and went inside and all was OK, the place just smelt of burnt chicken for a few days. Everything else has been great though, like moments after our league game on Wednesday when I was taking players to the winter shelter and to the transit center after the game. Craig spouted out with a big grin, "oh man, I was worried for a second, I didn't know where I was going to crash tonight and then I remembered, oh yea, I can just go home." Craig's laughter and frequent phone calls to let us know that he is just at the house hanging out are a joy to witness and now that the basics of having a bed to rest in are done Craig is continuing on his next mission- conquering the GED. Thanks for reading.