“People on The Way: Franchot and Marion”
“Don’t love your brother only with words, but with what you do.” 1 John
“I consider all things as loss . . .” St. Paul
Recently I had lunch with a couple of friends, Franchot and Marion, that I hadn’t seen for quite some time. I first met Franchot and Marion at Fort Lyon. “The Fort”, as it is called, is a residential treatment center located near Las Animas in Colorado. It is the last hope for those who are trying to get clean and sober. I spent about five months volunteering there during the time of my big life transition. Two days a week I would go to The Fort and lead a study and discussion centered on the book “Breathing Underwater” by Richard Rohr. At first Franchot and Marion were just participants in the study. As time passed, they became leaders, and friends. We would arrange to eat lunch together, take occasional outings, and on Sundays they even started attending the small church I was serving.
When I took my current job with the Alzheimer’s Association, I left The Fort and Franchot and Marion. It was a hard parting. But we have kept in touch, through Facebook messenger and occasional lunch get-togethers. They are still clean and sober and have made a new life for themselves, though it hasn’t been easy.
Franchot and Marion would be the first to admit that they have lived a hard life. And they wouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to tell you about it. They have spent a good share of their lives, and marriage, fighting alcoholism, addictions, and homelessness. Marion had her children taken from her as a result. It is hard to imagine the full scope and significance of their struggles. Perhaps it was due to those struggles that they are so filled with faith.
Theirs is a subtle and unassuming faith. Not the kind you shout from the rooftops or that focuses on converting people or getting them to join your church. It is a humbly grateful faith. Grateful for what they have been through, and what they have been brought through. Grateful for the life they have, hard as it may still be. Grateful for one another. It is a faith that has been forged and refined by fire. It is a faith that doesn’t judge others or look down upon them. It is a faith that looks not at what they don’t have, but all that they do. Their speech is salted with subtle and sincere references to God’s mercy, love, and the hope they have.
It was that mercy and love that greeted me as I pulled up in front of their house, a basic duplex on the south side of Denver. They were sitting on their front porch soaking up the sunshine. Marion has battled health problems and isn’t able to walk very well. Franchot had a recent bout of pneumonia. Their hospitality was on full display as they warmly welcomed me inside and showed me their home. It was quaint and comfortable. Franchot had cooked fried catfish, which he served with steamed vegetables and potato salad. It was delicious! He said that when he was younger, he had considered culinary school. One of many life opportunities lost perhaps. We caught up on people we had known, many of whom we had lost touch with. And of course, we reminisced about “the good old days” at The Fort. After lunch we took a stroll in the sunshine. It was lovely. Two hours passed for too quickly.
I drove away from their house happy, inspired, and grateful. Happy for them that they have beat the odds and the deck stacked against them. Inspired by their hospitality and faithful fortitude that has brought them through so much. Grateful that God caused our paths to cross in the most unlikely of places.