1. Clarence and I had a good talk. He and his son are not living under a bridge; thanks to his financial aid, he is able to rent a room in a local motel for a week. He thinks they might have a place to live with friends. Clarence told me it's easier to do his homework by motel lamplight than huddled in a blanket under a bridge reading by candlelight. No self-pity: it said this like I would say, "We're out of milk."
2. As Clarence and I talked more, he told me about the volunteer work he does to help homeless people in Eugene/Springfield. Did I mention that Clarence is my age, diabetic, homeless; did I mention he is also taking care of his troubled son who is nearly thirty? And they volunteer to help the homeless.
3. I'm wondering if now that many of my students are understanding that Buffalo for the Broken Heart is a story about what it means to Dan O'Brien to live an honorable life, well, I'm wondering if they might find that this deeper dimension of the book makes it more compelling than when they thought it was just some old wordy guy talking about buffaloes.
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