“I lost my wife last January to cancer,” said the older gentleman standing in the trash bin behind The Port Arthur News. “She was laying in my arms literally fading away in front of me at the age of 49 years old.

“I told her that I couldn’t live without her and wouldn’t be far behind,” he said. “She was my strength, my heaven, my everything.

“And when she heard me say that she perked up, looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Just because I am gone, doesn’t mean you can’t go on. You have to live. You have to live for me’.

“And every day since then that is what I have done,” he said.

A full year later, having lost everything to Tropical Storm Harvey and living in shelters with friends, he now rides his bike. His bike is his only form of transportation, which takes him all over Port Arthur to dig through trashcans in search of items he can sell to earn money.

This conversation took place last week when I was walking out of the back door of the Port Arthur News building on Memorial Boulevard. I first noticed the bike leaning up against the trash bin near the street. Then the older gentleman swathed in very worn clothes and a black cowboy hat stood up straight after finding a few items of apparent value.

I said hi, and asked him if he was OK. He said that not all businesses like his involve crawling around in trash bins. I said not to worry here. If it’s in the trash, it’s fair game.

We shook hands and began to talk. I reached into my pocket, pulled out my wallet and gave him my last $20 bill. His eyes began to tear up as he asked me if I worked at the Port Arthur News, to which I replied, “Yes I do.”

He asked if we had any jobs available that he could do, to which I replied, “Right now we only have carrier routes available.” He laughed and said, “Don’t think I could fit those Sunday papers on my bike.”

As he climbed out of the trash bin we shook hands again. I said, “When you get back on your feet and have transportation, come see me and I will get you a route or two.”

He looked me dead in the eye with a glimmer of hope and said, “Yes, I will do that. You are a very good man sir, a very good man.”

As he rode off on his bike, I thought to myself, “He’s the good man. To stay so positive with everything he has been though over the past year, he is a much better man than I.”

I hope I get to see my new friend again someday. A positive attitude can spread like wildfire, motivating many people.

It just goes to show, you don’t have to have much in life to change the world and make it a better place.

Rich Macke is publisher of the Port Arthur News. His column appears on Sunday.