“Do you trust me?”
“Yeah, I trust you.”
Chris Gardner, your story is remarkable. I like the way you spoke to your son on the basketball court telling him not to ever let anyone tell him not to follow his dreams, not even you. You said people that tell him he can’t do something tell him because they can’t do it, not him. I wished a friend of mine could of heard you say that. She needs to hear it again, especially since she’s struggling so much right now. She has dreams, had them when she was younger, has them now but I fear she may give up on them. Had she heard you say it I bet she would say it’s not that one particular person told her she couldn’t do it. I think she’d say her circumstances have worn her down and she’s getting too tired to reach any more. I believe you’d tell her as long as she’s breathing there’s time to see her dreams come true.
I like the way you held your son gently. It made me cry. To watch a child loved makes me sad. It should make me happy but it makes me want to curl up on the floor and weep, weep like you did on the floor in the restroom the night you played cave man hiding from dinosaurs. You played time machine, went back to the dinosaur era to make it easier on your son so he wouldn’t be afraid in the restroom while you slept. I know that fear too. I know what you felt when the tears fell down your face. It is frightening to sleep in the restroom. You never know who will be on the other side of that door. I’m happy you kept going. I’m happy you didn’t go back to the cave. Thank you for being there with him and for him in the restroom, in the cave.
When I got the DVD I didn’t expect the issue of homelessness to be a running theme. It was hard watching it, hard to stay in the present and follow the story line. I think I stayed present because I knew there would be a happy ending. When the story unfolded you didn’t know exactly how it would end so in this respect I had the upper hand. I knew there would be a happy ending. It’s what allowed me to set aside my issues and finish watching the movie. I watched from a distance, watched you struggle to raise a son and shield him from your fears. I watched you go from struggling in an apartment to struggling in a restroom then a homeless shelter. Your level of pain kept rising with no end in sight yet you kept going but not without flaws. I saw you lose your temper and push people away in an act of desperation. It let me see you as human and not some super brain I couldn’t identify with. I saw you take a hundred different tasks on your shoulders and somehow manage them all. I would ask how you did it but it was clear. You were driven for your family, for yourself, for your future.
In order to help your little boy along you kept asking him, “Do you trust me?” A very long time ago my mind would have bent at such a suggestion. But healing let me hear it for what it was. You didn’t offer tricks. You didn’t offer lies as answers. I think when you asked “Do you trust me?” it was more like, “You know I can do this right?” with the answer “Yes, I know you can do this.” Your self confidence and drive may have been your saving grace. When others would have good reason to quit you didn’t. Heck, you showed up to a job interview wearing paint stained clothes from an apartment you painted despite knowing you would lose that home. You showed up when many would not have. You showed up and sold your skills. You did well.
I’m happy you told your story. Because of the homelessness issues your story was hard for me to watch but I do not regret it. As a matter of fact I’ll watch it again. I want to see you walk tall. I want the reminder that as long as I breathe there is hope. Mr. Gardner, I appreciate your strength. Despite impossible odds you came through for your son and for yourself. Yours isn’t just a touching story. It’s not just recounting all the trouble you had. It’s a story of hope and of dreams made real. Most of all I appreciate the reminder that because you have nothing doesn’t mean you are nothing. I needed to hear that today.
Smiles to you and yours,
Austin of Sundrip Journals
The Pursuit of Happiness
Friday, October 05, 2007-10:33PM EST
Oh, that movie is very high on my list to see! You made it sound even better than the previews. I knew it was based on a true story and often times they are better than fiction.
I LOVED that movie. I loved to see a parent acknowledging he wasn’t perfect, didn’t have all the answers, while at the same time reassuring the child that the child would be okay and they’d get through it.