Damo has had a tough life in some ways and ended up needing help from the Salvos. He now works at the Salvos recycled Bike workshop and I hang out with him every Wednesday morning for a few hours. I really like him and he helps me!
Every Wednesday we leave home at 6.30am and go to our favorite coffee shop and get nice coffee. I then drop the lovely sue off at Foodbank where she volunteers in the office one morning a week. I then head to the Salvo Recycled Bike Workshop and hang out with Damo for a few hours fixing up bikes. The workshop is a social enterprise and I think it’s a great idea and so wanted to get involved. But the surprise packet in this is Damo. The guy who actually does the work. He’s a great guy and I just love working with him. Wednesdays are a highlight of my week. Every week I learn something new about how to fix bikes. I had no idea how complex and skilled a bike mechanic actually needs to be.
Damo is a master and seems to know exactly what to do. He shared his story the other week at a Salvo event and it really made me just appreciate him even more. He never knew his father and he experienced some significant trauma in his youth. His mother died tragically and suddenly when he was a young man and this unhinged him and he turned to drugs. He ended up in prison and in a lot of trouble. His options on exiting jail were limited and he ended up attending the Salvos rehab in red Hill. He did well, found some stability and recovery and made a connection with Andy Steele who introduced him to the bike workshop.
Damo is a big guy. Probably 6.2 and 140kgs. He is a hard worker and is smart in a technical and practical sort of way. He and I joke around a lot but I have also come to trust him and share honestly with him. The other day I was cranky and frustrated. So much in life at the moment for me is unsettled and there just seems to be loose ends whoever I turn. Nobody’s fault, just a combination of moving state, no house to go to and a transitional phase in work with the Salvos. Add to this heart scares, Covid disruptions blah blah blah
Anyway I got to the bike workshop and just let Damo have the lot. He listened and understood and then we pulled the spokes out of a bike and he showed me how to replace them and get the wheel back on using the special tools and techniques that only bike mechanics like us know how to do.
It was not a therapy session, but it was a safe and well humored place to be real and to not be alone in the struggle. After an hour or so with Damo I had forgotten about my worries and had just felt like the world was a nice and safe place again. Often when I see Damo I tend to nestle my head into his massive chest and half joking and half serious tell him I need a bit of love and affection. Now Damo on the surface is a brute of a man and certainly not much of a hugger. He has no deft counselling skills, but as it turns out Damo is a guy who is really good for me in this season of my life and I’m glad we get to be together every week.
After a few hours at the bike workshop, I go and pick up the lovely Sue who tells similar stories about the people she works with at Foodbank. Just ordinary but kind and accepting sort of people who allow us to participate in life with them. I bet there are people like this in your world as well, and today I invite you to just pause for a moment and appreciate how special this is. I’m grateful for the Damo’s of this world and I might even tell him so. He will probably think I’m a bit soppy and needy, but Damo has been through a bit himself and we all need friends. I think the bromance is good for him too!
Bless ya,
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