Craig

I’ve written about my friend Craig on this blog before, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that I learned his story in detail.

Craig, now 22, grew up in Capricorn, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town. When he was 15, Craig was walking down the street a block from his house when he was mistaken by gangsters for someone they had a vendetta on. Nine bullet wounds later, Craig was in the hospital, where he remained for nearly three years (“exactly 1,000 days,” he calculated when he was finally released).

Craig is one of the sweetest, most gentle souls I’ve ever met. He still lives at home and is able to generate some income by making greeting cards at Living Grace, a day center for the homeless and destitute. He figures if he had never been shot, he likely would have ended up in gangster life himself. When I asked if he had forgiven the guys who shot him, he said – without hesitation – yes.

When Craig was in the hospital, he said he looked around and saw many people in worse shape than he was, and he determined to be thankful for what he still had, including the use of his hands. Had he not been injured, he says, “I never would have met all the people at Living Grace. I never would have met you.”

Wow. Talk about putting things in perspective and appreciating what you have.