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Fosco, a humble 36-year-old Italian male, was next. He came in and shook my
hand strongly. He seemed really happy to participate. I asked him the same
questions. Fosco also enjoys reading and he added, "I love sports! I like skiing, hockey, which I don't play much here. I grew up in Montreal, Canada. I played a lot of hockey there." Fosco also enjoys shopping and walking, "I walk like 5 to 6 miles a day. I don't take the subway. If I can walk to 42nd street, I'll walk it. I just love looking at people and observing them. You see something new everyday." Fosco was very enthusiastic about his childhood. "It was fun being a kid. I loved it." Since then, "I've been through a lot of miseries and a lot of crap in my life. I’ve been through drugs and rehab. I've been sober and clean now for a long time, but I still got the kid in me, and that is something no one is going to take from me." Fosco has great parents. He said that they are "very authoritative, possessive, protective, loving, and nurturing. I got a great family. That's one thing I do have." Fosco enjoyed his childhood and family very much, but the hardships of his adult life brought challenges. "I've been homeless for seven months. I was working, had an apartment, and things just didn't go well." Fosco fears that his family might discover his problem, which is what keeps him here in New York. He is concerned that if he went back home before further treatment, he might not fully recover. "I can't move, I can't be free to do whatever I want. I won't go back home, I can't. I got my program. If I go back I'll be sick, and then my family will worry and wonder why I'm sick all the time. This is why I'm doing this program, so I can be free and go back home, or go back to Italy." Fosco definitely took a beating from his efforts to stay on his feet. "Sometimes you work and work and make money to catch up, but it is hard on the ego and hard on the self-esteem." He realizes, "This is an experience and I will grow from this. The things I took for granted before, I'm not taking them for granted today. I cherish everything I have and I hold on to that. I am absolutely stronger." Fosco’s stay at the New York City Rescue Mission also made him stronger. When asked what he most likes about the Mission, he responded, "Honestly, I got in touch with Jesus Christ. I got to know and understand myself. This place gave me encouragement to go on to better things. This place gave me strength. Bennie Caswell gave me tough love. When I came in, I was arrogant. I tried to be better than everyone here, but I later learned to be humble." Like Richard, Fosco left me with words of wisdom. "Just follow your dreams. You gotta' follow them. Don't let anybody ever tell you you're not good enough. Just keep on going." Fosco left with a smile on his face, and I thanked him for his time.
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