Those who worry about the dissolution of the family as a social unit may have something to worry about. Just ask Kirk Hillman, of Allentown, Pa. It was not until he read a feel-good story in the news that Hillman learned that his own brother had fallen on hard times.
His brother’s homelessness was news to him.
The story, which Hillman saw for the first time yesterday, focuses on a kind-hearted New York City police officer giving a homeless man a pair of boots for the winter. It was this viral photograph of the barefooted vagrant that stopped Hillman in his tracks. He immediately recognized the figure seated on the ground as his brother, Jeffrey.
Hillman, who is active in his local church, told the New York Post that he is accustomed to hearing from his brother roughly once a year when “he calls us to let us know he’s OK.” He adds, “The last time we heard from him was maybe a year ago on New Year’s Day.”
So how did the brother of a college professor and a church administrator end up living on the streets of New York’s Times Square? A relative who asked to remain anonymous provides a possible answer. “He was always finding trouble,” the relative maintains, “he was a bit lost.”
Kirk Hillman and a third brother, Alfred, note that he always had difficulty holding down a job. The brothers were aware that Jeffrey declared bankruptcy in 1993 after a series of state tax liens in New Jersey. They had no idea, however, that his situation had become this dire.
A Hell’s Kitchen acquaintance is quoted as saying, “He is always moving. He doesn’t sit in doorways. He’s always walking, up and down—always in motion.”
Now that he has been “reunited” with his family, if that is the correct term, his niece in Maryland has welcomed him into her home. “Jeffrey has his own life,” says Alegra Hall, Kirk Hillman’s daughter, “and he has chosen that life, but he knows that our hearts and home are always open to him.”
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This story is both nice and sad at the same time. I too have a brother that I have not had contact with for almost three years. Every time I see my momma I always ask if she ever heard from him. It’s always the same reply, “Nope, haven’t heard from him.”
I can imagine how this guy felt that he had to find out the condition of his brother from reading a newspaper. That isn’t exactly the way you want to see your family but at least it is better than the alternative of him reading the paper and finding out that his brother has died.
I have a brother who broke off contact with me in 2008 when he learned I didn’t support Barack Obama and had no intention of voting for him. Also sad.
I had a brother who I didn’t get along with, he was an alcholic, could never hold down a job. He died at 50 from varices http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esophageal_varices A horrible horrible way to die, but we made our peace before he passed. A waste of life..
Howdy!
No having to join Facebook let let you know when you are doin’ a lousy job.
All times I don’t tell you what a lousy job you are doin’ means you are doin’ good.
Oh, and I kind of missed y’all.
Cozmo, welcome! We missed you, too.
Some people have a tougher time pulling it together than others. For him “that life” is just living life as best he can, given who he is inside. Making some favorable assumptions. Glad the man’s got some man shoes.
*Nice digs.
Godspeed on the new enterprise!
Thank you for your good wishes.
When I saw the headline, I thought it was a story about our 44th president.
Anybody else think this article was going to be about Obama?