So we walk through the shadows. A significant portion of our lives is spent in them. Often, we need the flashlight on our iPhone to see where we are going. The light is grey and smoky. The monochrome atmosphere is a bit like film noir. People are lurking in the shadows, but it is hard to tell if they are friend or foe. Music plays in the distance, a baby cries, and we look about for a familiar face.

Life is often like a mystery movie. The mystery overcomes us from time to time. When we were in New Orleans in the French Quarter, I saw some whose lives had gotten the best of them. As the Old Man rounded the corner, a man was lying in the middle of the sidewalk sleeping. He was oblivious to the many passersby stepping over him and walking around him. No one seemed concerned or troubled by the shocking sight. The Old Man was in a joyful environment that was not joyful for everyone. At least three universes were present on the path. The people passing, enjoying the jazz music, the homeless who people stepped around or over, and the angels watching in the shadows.

‘How have we coarsened so,’ the Old Man asked? ‘People lose their way, taking a wrong turn and then becoming lost in the shadows,’ the Old Man continued. ‘A young mother is shot dead for not doing what the authorities tell her, and a nurse is shot in the head for attempting to help a woman in distress,’ the Old Man wept. ‘Many say all they had to do was obey the law…would they be so cavalier if it were their mother, sister, or brother,’ the Old Man mused. ‘When our neighbor suffers, we wonder what he did to cause him to sleep in the bed he made…, but when we suffer, we are being chastised by an angry God,’ the Old Man noted.

‘I love the happy carefree spirit of the French Quarter,’ Chet said with a laugh. ‘Being in Meyer’s Hat Store and meeting Mr. Meyers was a special treat,’ Chet continued. ‘I felt like I was living in the 40s just after WWII,’ Chet said with a grin. ‘There stood Mr. Meyers, no longer an old man but young and just back from the War,’ Chet noted. ‘He wore a pork pie hat and carried an ivory head walking stick,’ Chet said. ‘Mr. Meyers was full of life and plans and hope for the future of his Hat Store as the workmen erected the sign with his name on it over the door,’ Chet said. ‘There were many veterans back from World War II on the French Quarter streets,’ Chet continued. The Hotel Monteleone was full of patrons, including Truman Capote and Eudora Welty, as they had taken up residence at the Monteleone as they worked on their manuscripts,’ Chet said with a little dance. ‘The Carousel Bar was turning, and the patrons were drinking Sazeracs and Dirty Martinis,’ Chet observed.

‘Shadows are outside today, the Old Man said. ‘Mr. Meyers is 102, and people are being killed for no reason by our government…while we look away and step around them or step over them,’ the Old Man said with a tear in his eye.