Although this portrait is not the first picture I made of Juan and Kelly at The Breakfast, it is one I’ve always liked of them, from the many I’ve taken. I like the way she holds him there. Slightly possessive. And I like his warm smile.

Our first portrait “session” went as follows. She tapped me politely on the shoulder as I navigated a crowd of cold, hungry people and asked, “Could you take a picture for me?” Then added, “Of me and Juan.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she expected but I followed her through the busy room to a table near the open kitchen door. She pointed to a middle aged brown man in a baseball cap calmly consuming a plate of eggs. Without another word, in the midst of all the noise and chaos, she walked behind him, bent over, lovingly encircled him in her arms, then looked up at me with a grin. He, too, flashed a his smile my way, more because of her affectionate embrace than for my camera. Click! The first of many pictures of Juan and Kelly was made.

This nice couple are just two of the many “regulars” that used to come to the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church for their Sunday morning meal. Kathy and I miss them. The pandemic has made The Sunday Friendship Breakfast impossible. This wonderful sit down meal site has been closed since February. The two hundred or so men and women that used to partake of a hot, nourishing meal, of the friendship, and maybe for a new pair of gloves or clean socks, have mostly disappeared. The good folks at Mathewson are now serving a “to go” meal in a styrofoam box. Better than nothing but just not the same.

Kelly might be in her early thirties. Four years ago, when we first met, she still had vague dreams of modeling some day, somewhere. Juan was more realistic, he just hoped for honest work, food on the table and a roof over their heads. He was a bit older then Kelly, how much was hard to say. He said he found his way to Providence from Puerto Rico when he was younger. How he found Kelly he also did not say. His English isn't so good, relying instead on that mischievous smile of his. Kelly does all the talking, a mile a minute, in fact.

I brought their picture to them the following Sunday, a snapshot really, but they were delighted. Some time later they invited me to their spotless third floor walkup apartment in North Providence for conversation and a few more photos. We sat at a worn kitchen table and talked about their lives, a story of many challenges. Juan proudly showed me a piece of kitchen furniture, he had pulled from the trash and dragged up three flights. It was a small buffet, refinished now to looked almost like new. As I said, it hasn’t been easy for Juan and Kelly, harder still during a pandemic. I hope they are still together. I miss them and hope they are well. Jan Armor