Angel brightens 11th hour darkness
I’ve dubbed him Positive Pete.
He’s a lean, tanned, craggy skinned, 50-going-on-60 bloke with flowing grey beard, snappy trilby, bright blue Billabong shirt, matching sunnies, toothy smile and eyes that fairly blaze with enthusiasm.
The first day the Gold Coast Street Library set up its table at Tuesley Park, Southport, Peter Burt was one of the first to come up and say g’day. He poked around the boxes - mostly ex-library fiction – before asking: “Got anything on positive thinking? Spirituality?”
We didn’t but dug through our boxes of donated books later that week and returned the next Monday with quite a few motivation and self-help type titles.
“Thank you. Just what I’ve been looking for,” he beamed, leaving with an armful.
He missed lunch the next week but turned up grinning on week 4.
“Read ’em all,” he said. Some he gave away to interested mates, the rest he brought back but they were snaffled up with minutes.
“Yeah, there’s always something to learn,” Peter said.
“It’s good to read these books. They keep your spirits up and give you hope, a fresh outlook.”
Peter used to sleep in his car, mostly in Labrador.
“But you have to get up early and move on before police or council come along,” he said.
“I liked it near The Grand. The park nearby has hot water, a barbeque to cook on and I roller-bladed along the path beside the Broadwater every day for exercise and fitness. “
But life in the restricted space of his was taking its toll.
“There I was: pretty despondent, bleak and generally down-hearted about my prospects,” Peter said.
“I met this woman while roller-blading. She was looking for a flat mate and, with a leap of faith, took me in.
“It was the 11th hour syndrome; just when you think things have got so bad you struggle to keep going and then, bang, the universe intervenes.
“What a massive change from morning to afternoon, from sleeping in a car to having a room of my own. I didn’t have a bed and slept on the floor for a few days but the Vinnie’s came good.
“I don’t have much in the way of furniture or possessions but now I have security, hope.
“Mate, she’s my angel. Her face lights the room … and your spirit. The woman completely trusts me. She’s gone away for a few days leaving me by myself in her house.”
And it’s trust that binds the people who attend Rosie’s gatherings at Tuesley Park.
“This group here,” says Peter, “we look after each other. Even those who don’t have much, share. There’s a lot of humanity and humility. We care for each other.”
He was echoing the thoughts of one of our earlier featured Street People, Melissa Pedersen, who said: “This here is our patch. We can relax here. We get to know one other; we build trust in each other.”
Peter says people often struggle when all the bills arrived at once or unplanned expenses cropped up to eat into their meagre budgets.
“These sorts of places (Rosie’s lunches) can be save you, at least help you get by until the cheque comes,” he said.
We found a few more inspirational books for Positive Pete.
“You need to harness some positive thinking when times are tough, when you feel like giving up.
“Counselling is good to get you re-established again but self-help books can also be very useful.
“They can give you tools to work with, help you set goals … realistic goals that you have a chance of achieving and then you can look back proudly and say ‘well, I did that’.”
BELOW: A pensive Peter Burt: “There’s always something to learn. Books can keep your spirits up and give a fresh outlook.”
