a few months ago, i headed to best buy for a new hard drive. i was stressed about pretty much everything and after looking through about 50 different hard drives that looked exactly the same, i picked one, bought it and kind of power walked out the store, head down, into the street. i paused for a second to figure out where i’d left my car, and as i stood there, probably looking frazzled as hell, clutching my blue bag, i met tyrone. he was selling street sense but he didn’t ask me to buy anything, he just asked me how i was doing. we talked for a while about things strangers don’t usually talk about – what it’s like to live in dc, our lives, our health, family, the things that worry us. and i just couldn’t believe how positive he was about everything. his positivity made me feel positive. during a time when i really needed it. and i wanted to thank him.
toward the end of our conversation, tyrone mentioned two hopes for his life: to learn how to play guitar and find someone to write his life’s story. he told me how someone had stolen his guitar a few years back when he was living in a motel and how he hadn’t been able to afford another. as i drove home i called around my musician friends, asking if anyone had a spare guitar. then, last week, i got a text from my friend jason saying he’d found one.
and this is what happened:
i have never in my life seen someone so appreciative. the first picture is blurry because he was bouncing around and laughing for about 5 minutes straight. he showed it to everyone who walked by, “can you believe it? MY OWN GUITAR!” then he started singing james taylor and playing random chords. it was probably one of the best moments of my life.
these photos are part of a larger project (to be released sometime 2012.) thank you so much to jason and his friend, jenny, for donating the guitar and to middle c music for replacing its missing string for free. if anyone is interested in tyrone’s story and would like to fulfill his second hope, please email me!
film: the impossible project‘s silver shade.
[...] on this level it might make me a better artist, and more so, a better person. it started when i met tyrone, just having my mind blown by a complete stranger, and grew from [...]
[...] Photos courtesy of Live It Out Photography [...]
[...] This is such an incredible story about kindness and generosity and how easy it can be to make something better. To make someone happy. (It’s short and sweet and SO worth reading!) [...]