Michael Lane’s eyes beam with warmth and hope. You can tell he is an old soul.
“I was raised by my grandmother,” he said. “She was a very good lady. She became handicapped when I was 6. She did the best with what she could. When I was 10, I got a book about crafts and I learned how to make dream catchers. I started selling them to help pay the bills.”
Michael’s artistic talents later earned him scholarship for a college, where he focused on drawing.
“I even drew my own tattoos,” he said with pride.
Michael is an artist at heart, but he has traveled through more than 40 states as a salesman. At 23, he had two cars in his driveway and all the material possessions he’d always wanted. Eventually, he realized there were more important things in life than financial success.
“I quit when I realized I couldn’t keep selling things I didn’t believe in,” he said.
Now Michael uses his sales expertise to sell a product he does believe in: Street Roots.
He usually sells the paper on Southeast Fourth Avenue and Stark Street. Because of ongoing construction there, he is floating around until reliable foot traffic returns to the area.
When Michael isn’t selling Street Roots, he’s most likely reading.
“I like to read really long novels because I love to get invested in the characters. I read ‘The Dark Tower’; that was seven books deep. It’s like, if one of the characters passes, I’m crying.”
His other favorite books are Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” and Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See.”
Books are the key to Michael’s heart. No one knows this better than his fiancée, Laurie, who is also a Street Roots vendor.
“She knew ‘What Dreams May Come’ was one of my favorite movies. She went into Cameron’s Books and found the book for me for Christmas. It was $2; she paid it off 40 cents at a time. It was the first gift I’d been given in four years. It was amazing. I could tell that she really listened to me.”
Michael and Laurie both wear keys on chains around their necks, symbolizing their trust in each other. They’ve spent 16 months together on the streets.
“I know she totally accepts me, so I can be totally honest, no matter what. The fact that I can be honest with her makes me trust her,” he said.
But living and loving on the streets can be painful. Michael and Laurie have made the difficult decision to enter separate recovery programs as they move toward sobriety. Managing togetherness and separateness while in recovery is complicated, to say the least.
“We decided that recovery was such a personal thing that we had to grow on our own but still be there to support each other,” he said. “It’s been really hard.”
Both Laurie and Michael have recently been admitted into shelters. Michael is relieved to be able to read in peace. While it’s hard not having Laurie beside him at night, he finds comfort knowing she is sleeping in a safe place.
Michael’s on track for the outpatient program at the Native American Rehabilitation Center. He is excited by the spirituality of the program, which includes fire ceremonies and sweat lodges. The Native American spiritual world has been a part of Michael’s life since he made those dream-catchers back when he was 10.
After the program, he will go back to school for social work. He hopes to one day work with the recovery community.
With 12 days of sobriety under his belt, the next chapter of Michael’s life is all about faith.
“I’m just trying to let go and let God,” he said with tender strength in his smile, “and put one foot in front of the other.”
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Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots