Godspeed, Michael and Marilyn!

http://www.my9nj.com/story/24851286/farewell-to-tent-citys-piano-man

Left to right: Minister Steven Brigham, Michael
Berenzweig, Marilyn Berenzweig, Tent City
Volunteer Susan Faye Lorito-Schindler

On Thursday, Tent City residents Michael “Piano Man” and his wife Marilyn Berenzweig (pictured, center) left Tent City with the help of two volunteers. Susan Faye Lorito-Schindler (pictured, right) and her young son Kevin embarked on the arduous journey, loading up the formerly homeless couple’s belongings as well as the menagerie of birds and other animals in the Berenzweigs’ care.

Su sent us an update a short while ago:

All is quiet in my car the last 150 miles, Kevin fell asleep. Have to drop him off at his dad's. He has no school tomorrow,;I have no work. It has been an exhausting trip. There were some things that didn't go the way we wanted them to, certainly didn't expect some of the complications that came up. But overall I think it was a successful trip. I'm glad that maybe the worst of it is over. We plan to go back in about 2 months. Something good still need to be worked on; there are friends to help with. It's good to have friends in different places with different views. It is amazing how people come through for you when you really need them to. We threw caution to the wind and continue to push forward regardless of the doubt and fear.

Sometimes what one can do just never seems enough. I got some good pictures and we'll go down and visit soon. The things that need to be taken care of are going to have to be put in the hands of friends. One friend came with his cousin to take the U Haul truck back because I just didn't have time. Another friend is going tomorrow to see if there's anything else that they need. Someone offered furniture. It’s just overwhelming.

I think one of the most profound moments that I had was a very surreal experience of sitting with Michael in a church pew, reading verses in the Bible that he pointed out to me during the service. We were there for about 3 hours. We had a great meal together with the pastor and someone who sang acapella to the congregation and a few others. You would have fell out of your chair when you heard Michael preaching at the preacher and telling him if he didn't know Hebrew he didn't know how to translate the Bible! The food was good and I had never seen him eat that much. We had a lot of fun. He got phone numbers and one lady lives just a couple miles down the same road they are on; she gave her card and two numbers to reach her for absolutely anything they need.

One thing that is simply shocking to me is Marilyn's agility and flexibility and strength. I did not know that she had done yoga in her life until I saw her stretching first thing in the morning as the Sun came up over the field. She can bend straight down as straight as can be and put her hands on her feet. I cannot even touch my toes! She seems to have endless energy to walk the field with all the chickens and buckets of water.

Two women came to speak to us at the church and one spoke with Michael about local services and transportation and such. The other asked me about why we were there, and I explained a little bit about the circumstances. She said, “you must really love him a lot!” I got so choked up trying to tell her she grabbed a hold of me and hugged me really hard and said, “don't worry, we'll take care of them.”

Please keep Michael and Marilyn in your prayers as they begin this remarkable new journey!