A Second Chance

They had read an ad in the newspaper and wanted to rent an apartment I had listed. It was not much of a place, but clean and the rent was only $500 a month.

He was from the Philippines and she was a local girl too thin for her tall frame.

They had both been on drug and alcohol rehab. She was just finishing her tenure. He had completed his program and got a job as a medical van driver.

They pooled their resources to come up with the $500 rent, but didn’t have the additional $500 deposit.

It would have been so easy to turn them down. If they didn’t come up with the rent next month it would take at least three months to have them evicted and then it would cost almost $1,000 in fees and expenses.

This apartment had been trashed before and that was a lot of work for my wife and I who both worked.

However there was love in their eyes and that passion which only comes with having seen hard times and looking for a second chance.

I sat them down and gave them the one-on-one lecture. “If your rent is three days late, then you are out of here.”

In my heart I knew I could not turn them away. They had already had so many doors closed on them before.

So I rented the apartment to them and helped them find furnishings. I had some left from past renters and they borrowed and found other items in yard sales. They set up housekeeping.

“I can’t handle drugs or alcoholics on my property,” I warned them. “If I see that happening then you are out of here.”

I tried to be firm because I knew in time my compassion would come out and they would find that I was not a hard person.

The months went by fast and they were never late by much and also called to say if they were going to be. I went to their apartment many times and talked of life and emotionally adopted them.

They were good people who had been lost in the shuffle. Some how they managed to climb out of it and found each other.

They helped each other stay straight and they remained straight as long as I rented to them.

It was almost a year later when they told me that they had an offer for a better place. It was somehow family connected and I didn’t mind. I knew my apartment would be clean and in good shape for the next renter.

We left good friends but for some reason we lost track of each other.

Then last week I was coming out of the doctor’s office after taking a stress test. I was waved down by the driver of a medical van and I didn’t recognize the driver at first. He shouted at me that he used to be my renter and he wanted to thank me. Then the light went on and I remembered the Philippine who moved in with his girl friend.

“Well how are you doing?” I asked.

“Fine,” he said. “I almost run the company I work for.”

“And your girl friend?”

“She’s fine too and we are married.” he said. “We have a child on the way.”

“My wife has gone back to school and has almost completed a course in medical trainin,” he said.

“I’m so proud of you two,” I said and the pride spilled over. Because in a way I was proud of myself for having given the young couple a second chance.