There's Mark!

If you haven’t already I would recommend you read my post titled “Where’s Mark?” before you read this. It wouldn’t make much sense otherwise…

About two weeks back I wrote about the man, now known as Mark, living next to the Clanbrassil bridge and the ominous letter I found in his place. For days afterwards I ran past that bridge time and again to see if there was any update on the whiteboard either from himself or maybe a friend. The same message was scrawled onto it, it then became slowly waterlogged, and then the whiteboard was gone altogether. Like many things once seemingly so significant, I slowly began to forget. It’s not that it was no longer important or meaningful; it’s just that more aspects of existence got in the way. Life ‘went on’ whether or not I had known it.

That was until a friend of mine sent me a screenshot of a Reddit post asking if this was the guy I was talking about in my most recent post. Sure enough, it was and I was so excited to hear that Mark was safe and sound. He wasn’t in a cottage in the country but supposedly placed in an apartment with help from the Dublin Simon Community and he was delighted to get off of the streets. My once drab feelings turned into ones of relief and contentment. Sometimes the power on the internet, and Reddit for that matter, can work for the good of humankind. This was definitely one of those times.

Now that I know the man I once thought might be dead was now very much alive, I think it only appropriate to try and reach out. I want to see why so many people were concerned and why so many others responded with such kind words about the mystery man. He must hold a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. And as I said before, I just might learn something. So now it’s up to me to use the power of the internet and the power of Reddit to at least attempt to speak with Mark. From all accounts, he is a very lovely man who just fell on very hard times.