I do not remember your name, but I remember you

I have a flaw (amongst the several ones! ;))...I do not remember names...
 
This is bad, even worst when you will not probably have the occasion of knowing the name of some persons anymore...and this is one of these cases.

Paul, Eric...I do not remember...but I remember what he left to me, which at end is more important than a name.

I was taking pictures of seagulls...a lot of seagulls..and with the City Hall as background the photo would have been fantastic ...(FYI: the photos did not come as beautiful as I wanted...but then who cares? :-))...

...and then I saw him. He was in front of a closed door of a shop and he was giving the food to the birds...

This is why they were all there: I guess this had become a kind of habit...they knew him and he knew them..he knew who was the strongest seagull, he knew in which roof they were waiting to have none close to the food...he knew all their strategies and he told me all of those.

...He was lying down under a blanket in front of this shop. He was sharing, as a perpetual ritual, his dinner with these birds.

He was a homeless. The first homeless I had the occasion/possibility/courage to speak with...But I do not remember his name.

He told me the story of his life...and why he ended up in the street...he had worked before...also in the hotel where I stayed.

I asked if he needed something...No, the answer was no thanks. He was not asking money neither...

It was an equal conversation. The same equal conversation he had with other people passing by and stopping to know how he was...

Notwithstanding he was under a blanket, with few bags around him where he may have had all of his belongings, he was smiling and full of dignity.

And this post is for him...who let me enter in his life...who showed me how to be always self-respectful...who was smiling notwithstanding all.

Who let me breaking down barriers that I may have instinctively created.

Who was telling me the stories of the seagulls as a wiser and more experienced friend would have done.

I do not remember your name. But I do remember you.

Thank you and good luck man!

Seagulls and City Hall, Belfast 2015

There are things that can happen only when you travel alone...because you are more open to what happens close to you and you see the world with more curious and genuine eyes.

I do have photos of him, but I have decided of not putting them online, to respect his dignity and that moment...

But I do not remember his name...though...