The Miracle on Walnut Ave
Miracle on 34th Street ranks as one of the alltime great Christmas movies but listen to this incredible occurrence on Walnut Ave.
First, let’s reference a definition for miracle. • a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.
The divine Ms. Jackie Sherman wielded a broom on the 100 block of Walnut Ave.
It’s before 8 a.m. Tuesday and Sherman has almost completed her almost daily task of sweeping a 50-yard stretch of Walnut Ave., a curb-to-curb exercise that makes a noticeable difference.
“This is what I do. I sweep and clean. Cook and clean. I do my part because it’s not good to be nasty,” Sherman said.
“I live right there, right next to that abandoned house. I only sweep so far and then I go back into the house.”
Sherman retreats before the Chambers St. corner liquor store opens and a steady traffic of drinkers occurs.
Sherman, 55, has experienced a kind of homecoming after moving off the block.
“Moved back after I got shot in the shoulder up on Monmouth St in October of last year. The bullet went in here and came out here. I’m back on Walnut Ave. in the area where I used to hang out, drink and do drugs. I even did a year in Mercer County (Correctional Center)” she admitted.
“Getting shot? Wrong place, wrong time. Sitting on my porch eating and there was a shooting. Bullet was not meant for me. Still, scary enough to move back onto Walnut.”
Sherman said state officials suggested a relocation although movement from Monmouth St. to this area on Walnut Ave. offers no real change.
Still, a sense of community exists as neighborhood residents remember two homicide victims of violence with a mural for one fallen young black man and an adjacent park for another.
Sherman adjusted her blouse to show a healed spot near her right shoulder where a bullet entered. (Wait for the miracle, 3-2-1).
“But I’ve been clean and sober for more than 20 years. It’s a blessing,” she said.
And a potential curse as ideas for successful recovery teaches a change of people, places and things.
Another definition for miracle.
•a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences.
Sherman represents personal ideas about Trenton residents wielding brooms for everyday clean ups. The small, daily clean up makes a difference. That minimal stretch of improvement receives attention on this street infiltrated by blight accentuated by boarded up homes.
This incredibly insane belief that one mayor can alter the fate of Trenton ranks as a ginormous lie, told repeatedly by propagandists.
Sure, mayors matter in movement of city government machinery but people have the power to affect positive change.
Real change requires a grassroots groundswell of community, neighborhoods and efforts made by recovering drug addicts armed with brooms or newspaper columns accompanied by action.
•Sherman said her husband, Sam Jennings, sweeps on days when she’s not available. It’s at most ten minutes of cleaning that keeps alive hope that neighbors match the effort.
•The revitalization of Trenton will require the enlistment of individuals offering small contributions for the greater good. Plus, people working together for a common result.
If you want to build a better city, include Sherman and Jennings in that initiative.