The Story of Dirk the Angel and the Rosary Beads

The Story of Dirk the Angel and the Rosary Beads

By

J. Nobel

I.

There have been times in my life when I was homeless and on the streets. Living on the streets of the United States of America can be very dangerous and disheartening and shows another side to the world that most people will never know. For many it is hard to understand how people become homeless in the first place. For me it was a matter of addiction and mental health issues that I struggled with since childhood and at this time in my life I found myself on the streets of Ft. Collins, Colorado.

When I first stepped foot in Ft. Collins at two in the morning off a Greyhound bus, I was intent on going back to school and earning a degree in Literature. So that is where my journey began. I was able to secure some lodging from a stranger I'd met at the bus station who offered me his empty trailer of all places. He was moving out, and he knew, I needed a place to stay.

He said, “I need somebody to keep an eye on the place for a few days while everything gets finished up, and your welcome to sleep here. I don’t have anything but whatever I have is yours.”

So, I took him up on it and I stayed there for a few days. I stayed there long enough to read “Moby Dick” and finished another book, a work by Jean Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher from the 1700’s.

I would take the bus each day and eat lunch at the homeless shelter and wander the streets of Ft. Collins. I visited Colorado State University and picked up an application. I was set, I had a plan, and on my way - back into the world. At that time I was trying to get myself set up in the city and find some work at some restaurant near the college, and maybe find a little apartment.

Because there were so many people who were homeless in the city, I had to participate in a lottery to get a bed in the shelter each night. I couldn’t be drinking, I had to be sober. I tried for several nights and if I didn’t get in, I would return to that old trailer that the stranger said I could stay in. Then one night I ended up getting in the shelter at Catholic Charities. I went through their employment program and began working on a resume and I followed the rules, hoping that I could crawl out of the hole I found myself in.

During this time, one day in the lunch line, I met this super tall, older man. He was at least six foot five or six, maybe even taller. He had extremely white hair that was down to his shoulders along with a white beard to match. He had a tan face and arms as if he’d been in the sun forever. His hands were cracked and dried and bleeding right there in the lunch line and when he looked at me his eyes were so piercing and blue; I’d never seen eyes as blue as his, or hair as white.

I remember standing there and him turning around to me and asking, “Hey! Who are you?”

“I’m Jay.” I said.

“Well Jay, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Well, you know I’m having a rough time, trying to get set up in the city, and go to college, and just starting my life over.”

“Well, you’ve found the right place.” he said. “C’mon on in and have some lunch. Sit next to me.”

And so, I did. That’s how our relationship started. I found out that his name was Dirk, and that he was a traveler, a sojourner; and that in his early life and even now, he traveled on the trains. He was always riding the trains and he rode from one end of the country to the other. That’s how he lived his life, stopping at various homeless shelters, or different places along the way. He had camped in Las Vegas Nevada, and many other places, and he was unmistakable. You could not miss this guy as he was walking down the street. His feet were huge, his hands were like bear paws, and they were constantly cracked and bleeding.

II.

After meeting Dirk this way at the homeless shelter from that day forward we spent a lot of time together. There were days when I would leave the shelter and he would ask “Well, where ya goin today Jay?” He might get on the bus with me for a little while to my destination, but he would never come in with me. If I was going in for a job interview, he wouldn’t come in, or if I was going to get even just a few groceries he wouldn’t come in. The only time he would stay with me all day is if I was alone and didn’t have others around me. Other than that, he would always separate himself. If I encountered others he would drift away, but if I was alone all day, he would be with me; from the time we woke up at the shelter until the end of the night. And the next day, there he’d be at breakfast. We would go on our day. This went on for months.

I arrived in Ft. Collins in October of that year, and as it got colder and colder, and the winter approached, and the days got shorter Dirk and I stayed together. Sharing meals and days and nights out of the shelter and in. He almost never left my side. I had spent more time than I could’ve imagined on the streets by then. By the time December came it was brutally cold and my experience changed. There were days when it was snowing, and snowing, and snowing and it wouldn’t stop snowing, and the entire time Dirk was there.

I remember him one night leading me down a main thoroughfare in the city. Somehow, I had gotten disoriented and I ended up heading in the wrong direction and Dirk was with me. I remember his big long legs, and his big feet trudging ahead of me in this blizzard. There were car accidents and every once in while I’d hear somebody slam into somebody else; and here I was in the middle of the street, me and Dirk. Dirk had no hat on, no gloves, a very thin jacket, black jeans and big hiking boots. I was bundled up from head to toe, trying to stay warm, wondering where I might sleep that night, because I hadn’t been able to get into the shelter again that night.

III.

Since I was very young, I’ve always wanted to know about God. I was raised Catholic. I’ve always been curious about the Bible. I was always looking for something that I might glean from its Word. I was looking for some sense of hope that all would be good in life.

As if by some supernatural knowing, if I was sitting at lunch or dinner, and I was having an extra tough day, Dirk would say, “Get your Bible out and check this out.” He’d give me a verse. There was a lot of Romans, and Isaiah, and much of the Gospel. He would say always read the Gospel. “Always keep the Gospel near you.” he would say.

So, I did, and I did the best I could, and at the time I was really messed up. I was really struggling with my life. Constantly wondering why my life had not turned out like everyone else’s. Dirk would say to me, “Jay don’t worry about what other people are doing, or what their thinking, or what their saying. Just be you.“

I’m a us military veteran and in November of that year veteran’s day came around and I had met some vets there in town. We all know that come veteran’s day some restaurants will give a free meal and Perkins happened to be one of those. That year I invited a couple of the vets I’d met at the shelter. I asked them what they were going to do for their free meal. They didn’t really know, so I suggested Perkins.

I really wanted to invite Dirk, because I knew that Dirk was a big-time coffee drinker. He loved his coffee in the mornings and really throughout the day if he could get it. You could get Dirk a cold cup of coffee and it wouldn’t matter; he’d drink it right down.

Even though Dirk was not a veteran, I still wanted him there. I wanted to share the morning with him and do what little I could even if it was just a meal and as much coffee as he could drink. He was very reluctant to go. He didn’t want to go. “No Jay, you go and spend that time with your comrades.” he said. “We’ll meet up again later in the day, after you have your breakfast.”

“No Dirk, I really would like to have you come in. I’ll buy.” I had a little bit of money, so I wanted to buy him breakfast at least.

“I’ll tell you what Jay, you can buy me a cup of coffee.” He finally relented.

So there, with my fellow vets, the five of us enjoyed a great breakfast. It was one of the few times that Dirk was there when others were around. I was glad to have him there. Still, it was almost as if the other guys didn’t even know he was there. He was so quiet. He was drinking his coffee and listening to us tell our war stories. He didn’t say much. In fact, I don’t remember him saying anything as we sat at the table that morning.

As breakfast finished up, I told the guys I was heading over to the library to do some more job searching. So, we said our goodbyes for the day. I walked out with Dirk and we passed through the parking lot, and it was snowing that day. Big mountain snowflakes fell around us. I was intent on getting to the library, maybe send some messages to the kids online. During that time, I spent many days at the library and the church. As we walked towards the library Dirk suddenly says to me, “Hey Jay stop. I want to talk to you for one second.”

So, I stopped, “Yeah what’s goin on bud?” I asked.

“You know - I know you carry that thing around in your pocket.” he said.

What he was talking about was my Rosary beads which I had received from the Knights of Columbus, which is a Catholic Fraternal Order that I had joined at one time but drifted away from later. But at that time, I prayed daily and hoped at some time in the future I might join another chapter since I was intent on staying in Ft. Collins. I was praying the Rosary a lot while walking the streets of Ft. Collins. I had broken the Rosary, so it was now in pieces and I was careful to keep them together until I could get it repaired or replace it. It was something that had saddened me deeply. The broken Rosary felt much like a metaphor for my life, broken and in pieces.

“I know you use it to pray.” he said. “I want you to know - you should always keep praying Jay. Don’t ever stop praying to the Lord. However you can pray to him…pray.” He was serious, as serious as I had ever seen Dirk.

“I will Dirk, I always will.”

“I know you will and that’s why I want to give you this.’ He said. And from out of nowhere, out of his pocket comes the most beautiful blue, blue as the sky-blue Rosary. I was stunned. I stood there speechless as he placed the beads in my hand. It was beautiful.

“Dirk, I can’t take this.” I said.

“You have to. Your other one’s broken.” He said, “And I know you use that thing, this one’s for you now.” He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes, “you take it and you pray. Pray all the time Jay.”

“I will Dirk. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I managed to reply, as tears filled my eyes.

“Okay well I have to go.” Dirk said suddenly.

“Okay man, I’ll see you later.” I said.

“Yes Jay, you will.” he said. With that he was gone.

IV.

On my way to the library, and all that day, and through the following weeks, I couldn’t believe what I’d been through with Dirk in the previous months. He appeared out of nowhere and then in one instant he was gone. After that day I looked for Dirk. He never returned to the shelter after our meeting in the parking lot. I never saw him again.

Sometimes when I’m out there ministering to those who find themselves homeless and alone, I wonder if I will ever see him again. I want to tell him thank you for watching over me those five or six months of my life that were some of the toughest and most uncertain for me. I needed somebody, I didn’t know anybody in that town, and I was all alone; and there was Dirk.

When I look back on that time I wonder if he was visible to other people. I think about that a lot. I’d never seen anybody like him before or since. With his beautiful white hair and beard, his piercing blue eyes bluer than anything I’d ever seen. His giant hands cracked and bleeding. I would say, “Hey Dirk lets put some lotion on your hands man.”

“No, their good, I’m good. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me Jay. Worry about you, worry about what’s going on with you okay?” he would say.

“Okay, I’m just trying to help.”

“I know, but don’t worry. That’s already been taken care of.” he’d say.

Things like that, or all the Bible versus he told me to read when I was in trouble, or when I was feeling low. I know in my heart that Dirk was an angel. He was helping me out. I wonder where he is now. I suppose helping others, doing something out there. Walking in front of somebody else, helping them through a blizzard, somewhere out there. I hope he knows how grateful I am.

That Rosary helped me over the following years of my life, then in some strange twist of fate, it was stolen. By whom I do not know. I feel whoever took the Rosary needed it more than I at that time. So, I let it go. I will never forget where it came from. It stays in my heart and every time I look at a Rosary or pick up the one I have now, I always think of Dirk, my angel. Thanks be to God.