The Kindness of a Stranger

Few people have heard this story and fewer still understand the full context and impact it continues to have on me, even if they knew me at the time these events unfolded.

In the summer of 1993, I was enrolled at Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon pursuing a Master’s in Geography/GIS. I was living “paycheck to paycheck” as it were, which at that time, in my life, was effectively credit cards from American Express, Discover, Prime Option, etc. along with various Pell Grants and other financial aid loans. I made my tenuous situation much worse by the irresponsible decisions…