Making a Way J ames enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1972 and was discharged in 1975. “When I got out of the Army, the VA (Veterans Affairs) didn’t treat veterans very well,” James says. So instead of bothering to register with the VA, he made his own way in life. He did some construction and factory work and then went to truck driving school. Eventually, he bought his own semi, working hard to maintain excellent standards. He was among the top 10 percent of truck drivers for his good driving. “For me, when a door opens, I go all the way through it,” James says. “I just keep going and giving it my all, seeing what I can do.” Because of his desire to help others, James became familiar with rescue missions. Sometimes the food he had delivered was deemed unusable; for example, once he was unloading a large box of beef and the forklift damaged the box, so the store wouldn’t accept it. He called a local rescue mission and asked if they wanted it. “It could be 2:00 in the morning, and a bunch of rescue mission workers would come out and meet me wherever I was to unload the food,” he says. “They’re so grateful, and they just love you when you show up.” Life was going smoothly for James until one day tragedy struck. As he was standing on a loading dock, a forklift driver accidentally backed over him. “It crushed my right ankle, and bone marrow was pushed into my blood,” James says. “It also broke my eardrum.” James had to drive himself to the ER, where he waited for six hours. He got some pain medication and drove home, not wanting to leave his semi at the hospital any longer. He was referred to a surgeon who did him more harm than good, and the next surgeon he saw told him it was too late—he couldn’t help. In fact, James’ professional license was taken away and he could no longer drive his truck. Not long after that, his wife left him. He decided to leave his Texas home and ride his motorcycle to Denver so he could live with his sister and brother-in-law. Because his health was still poor, he was barely able to make the three-day trip. But he got settled and decided to seek out health care. That didn’t go well. “I went to a doctor who didn’t know what to do with me and told me to go home and die,” James says. Along with that depressing news, things started going downhill with his brother-in-law, who felt James hindered his partying lifestyle since James didn’t drink or use drugs. James then rented a room from his sister’s neighbor, but that situation wasn’t healthy. In May 2012, he agreed to move to Nampa, Idaho, and live with his other sister. Unfortunately, he “was ready to leave within three minutes of arriving,” he says. 18 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MARCH/APRIL 2019 Life was going smoothly for James until one day tragedy struck. As he was standing on a loading dock, a forklift driver accidentally backed over him. “It crushed my right ankle, and bone marrow was pushed into my blood,” James says. “It also broke my eardrum.”