The Chair Next to the Stairs

I have to tell you about one of my favorite guests at Nativity House.  His name is unimportant (for confidentiality reasons) but I will call him JG.   JG is a schizophrenic man that looks like a cross between John Lennon and the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland...no lie. He has shoulder-length hair and one of the biggest mustaches I've ever seen.  He hails from Little Rock, Arkansas and has a great memory if you tell him about yourself.  He is quite concerned about his appearance because he is constantly brushing his hair and mustache with his hands.  He's also got 2 big buck front teeth that gives him one of the best smiles ever.  And his plastic purple sunglasses are the icing on the cake.  He is one of the guests that makes me happy everyday. However, he's really weary of new staff and takes a long time to warm up to people.  So, it's constant work to gain his trust.

Let me give you a little synopsis of JG's days at Nativity.  He has to come in exactly at opening time and sits in the same spot everyday.  He always wears either brown or navy pants pulled up really high with a belt and a navy shirt.  JG is very particular about people in his immediate surroundings and how close they are to him and his "spot."  It's pretty funny to watch him though because he usually has a book open on his lap like he is pretending to read, but really he's watching the guests and staff.

If someone moves into JG's personal bubble he gets really angry and starts chattering to himself.  I should also probably mention that he is constantly talking to himself.  The talking/chattering is dependent on his mood.  When he's happy, then he's smiling and laughing as he talks, but when he's mad...watch out.  He will get really agitated and slam down his chair/whatever else.  The best visual example I can think of is when a squirrel gets angry and starts barking/chattering...that's kind of what it's like with JG (sound and all).

Why am I going into this description?  Because, this past week I made some breakthroughs with him.  Like I said, it takes a while for him to warm up to people, so any baby step counts.  These things happened in a period of three days, one occurrence for each.  It started with a smile when I walked past him, then it turned into a wave when I was on the 2nd floor, and finally a "Hi Rachel."  Those tiny instances were some of the highest points of my week.