My Three Petes

I was told today that yesterday was Peter Joseph Bis's birthday. For those of you not familar with the name, perhaps "Homeless Pete" rings a bell. One of my three DC Petes.

Homeless Pete lives in various parks between the Hart Office Buildings and Union Station in DC. In otherwords, he was kind of a constant ending to my morning commute and beginning my evening commute. Our relationship started out with a "Good morning ma'am" and a "hello" and mutual partings. Mine- "Have a good day!" His- something about the cosmic powers and aliens, perhaps "Greetings and salutations," one of his favorite phrases. I may have been puzzled, but it always put a smile on my face!

I don't know how I found out his name. I think it was probably Bartles who told me. She must have found out when she left him a treat-- "Something soft, because he doesn't have too many teeth!" I started addressing him by name, and it took a little while before he remembered mine. At first, he associated me with Maren. Soon, I assumed my own identity. The first morning he said, "Good morning, Deidra," instead of the previous "I'm hypoglycemic and my blood sugar's low... sorry, I don't remember your name," probably has its own entry in my journal. It was a big day!

The homeless man knows my name!!! For some, this may be a cause for alarm, but not me! I had finally made it! During my conversations with homeless Pete, he asked if "a pretty face" like mine was "seeing anyone." It came out that there was a guy in my office... he keeps emailing me... maybe something.

I told Pete that my parents were coming to town, to let him know I wouldn't be passing by the next little while. I got concerned everytime I didn't see him, and it went the other way as well. My parents (especially Dad) had heard stories about my Pete. They met him on their way into the office, even unaccompanied by me. I'm grateful to Dad for teaching me to talk to people, and then being able to reach out to "my" Homeless Pete.

The morning Tameka and my parents flew out of DC (very early), I was on my way to work. Pete stopped me, and told me that my dad had stopped and talked to him the day before. Dad told him to tell me that they were on a plane on their way home, but he wanted me to know he loved me. I was so choked up (and am again, just thinking about it)! My dad had the forsight to plan this, and he cared enough about the homeless guy I had taken in to let him be a part of our special moment.

I had been sharing my Homeless Pete moments with a few people in the office, namely Pamela Jean and Chris. When I told Pam the preceeding story that morning, she was like "Ohhh, Dee!" She had been getting to know Pete herself, after hearing all the stories I shared about him. Chris probably thought I was a little bit crazy, but he went along with it.

Pete gave me two [tangible] gifts while I was in DC. One was a charm bracelet with a cross on it. Inside he had made a card, and it had the reference of Hebrews 13:2. I was so anxious to get to work to see what it says. The scripture reads, "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it." Pretty fitting. I'm hesitant to bring up the other gift, because he said it was for me and my family. My dad still thinks he should get it. Pete gave me the other gift my last day of work, and the day I finally took Chris to meet him. Oh, how "this guy in my office" evolved into "my fiance." Funny how life works, isn't it?

Pete gave me a box, wrapped in neon yellow posterboard and body odor. When we got back to Chris's apartment, I unwrapped a set of glass and glitter Christmas ornaments. They graced our tree last year, and brought the spirit of Christmas into our home and my heart.

Next up: Front Desk Pete. At Crystal Plaza there was a front desk, and you had to either swipe your electonic card or have the front desk worker buzz you in in order to enter the front doors. The front desk workers also held the key to magic. They held the packages! Packages were signed out through them!

Front desk Pete was one of the only males, and one of the only white front desk workers. He was also one of the only friendly front desk workers. And he had good really good taste in neckwear. As the weather warmed up and I gave up the underground tunnel to the Metro, I saw a lot more of the front desk. I would always greet the person sitting there, and Pete was one of the very few to greet me back. After realizing he was so easy to work with, if we ever had a problem, we would wait until Pete was on the front desk. Maren and I would stop and chat with him. He was great!

Chris started frequenting our apartment about the same time we discovered Front Desk Pete. Pete started recognizing Chris, and buzzing him in without barking at him to sign in at the visitors book. One night they were towing cars, and Pete even came up to our apartment to let Chris know he needed to move Nelly. (We were on the balcony and had witnessed the whole scene and already left to take care of it.)

The day before my birthday, Chris had come over, and on his way out he had given Pete a heads-up on the upcoming event. The next day, Pete was there to wish me a happy birthday on my way to church. When I went back to DC in July, we invited Pete to come to our engagement party (I was staying with the girls in 504 N). He joined in the party, and it was so awesome to see him there.

Last: Mailman Pete. (The picture has David Andersen cropped out... Whoops!) The Craig office was generally pretty friendly to the Senate mail staff, but Pete was exceptionally nice back. We found out he's from North Carolina, and he did that southern hospitality well. We just said, "Hi" every afternoon as he dropped off the mail. Soon, he was asking our names. Luke and I got the closest to him, asking him about his day, inviting him to share in Intern Tony's birthday treats, and caring about how he was. It was a great afternoon break when he would pull up a chair to Big Table and chat it up with us. On our (Luke, creepy David and my) last day Mailman Pete brought us cookies and milk for a going away treat, and as a thank you for being "so kind." Luke and I were late to our own office going away party, because we were upstairs having a much more special one.

On my return trip, Pete just happened to get a rotation when he came to our office. He found out that I was there, and that Chris and I were engaged and couldn't believe himself. He insisted on buying us refreshments, and presented us with a wedding present. A picture of fireworks over the Capitol, because we both found fireworks in DC. Mailman Pete wasn't there in April when we went back. He's since returned to his true love, history. (He was with the official Capitol Tour guide people before going to mail, waiting out his time until retirement. What I would have given to have him give me a tour of the Capitol-- I'm sure he was amazing!)

I want there to be some catchy wrap-up, some great moral to the story. But really, I'm just grateful to three men who were willing to show me kindness in a big, cold city. Each from very different walks of life, but each with a great big heart. They were willing to make my days brighter. Hopefully the moral of the story is learning from them, and then passing it on.