Today I went to a block party on the street behind the Center Street Library. Pastor Shelia, one of the group of residents of North Central struggling for civil rights of residents was the organizer. The block party was to celebrate the 83rd birthday of a resident who live in the senior housing building on the block and to give young people some fun, encouragement and teaching from the Pastor.

The seniors from the center were gathered around the birthday girl on the sidewalk in front of 55 and above housing unit. I ended up spending most of the time talking with these seniors. The birthday woman was dressed in white and very much a woman of God. Another woman on the corner had a spiritual ministry and gave me a wonderful page of quotes as well as some socks and deodorant. In days to come I will put the quotes on quotes pages. A few were quotes that I have been looking for. This made sense since this woman had a very strong faith in God’s will and the belief that if we give ourselves over to God ‘all will be well’. Another elderly man who live in the senior complex told me of how in all his life in Milwaukee he had never been at “fish fry” at a restaurant. I found this hard to believe but he also said that his late wife would have him bring fish home on Friday nights from the variety of cooked fish stores in the area.

Later, in the early eve, my wife and I went out to a fish fry at one of the many restaurants in Milwaukee offering Friday Fish Fries. It struck me that many low income do not go out for Friday fish fries very much because the cost of eating out, something that does not really bother those of us in middle class.

On the way home we stopped at new frozen yogurt place where you can fix your own combination of yogurts and toppings, weigh them and pay by the weight. The place was packed so I had to drive around the block while my wife ran in the chain store and purchased yogurt. I asked for a cone of some yogurt but she came back with two cups of a variety of yogurts and toppings. I guess they do not even sell cones. The cost of two cups of yogurt we purchased were probably the same or more than cooked fish my friend brought home to his wife and family for Friday dinners.

I feel I am living in two worlds, one behind the invisible wall on North Avenue, the beginning in my calculations of North Central Milwaukee, home of many impoverished persons; and the other on the West side of Milwaukee where I grew up and still live.

The woman I met full of spirituality told me it did not matter where you live or what your race was as long as you live in the peace of God. My goal is to find the peace and blessings that only God can give in both of these worlds.

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