Wilbur
In November of 2004 I met Wilbur while volunteering with Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco. What began as occasional lunches at Polk Street Station and light grocery shopping at Big Apple Discount Center turned into a five year friendship.
Initially guarded, Wilbur soon shared stories of past loves, losing his sight as a teenager, surviving a stabbing, writing poetry, and navigating his way home after late nights in pre-Castro Polk Street gay life.
Over time I started leaving my camera at home, afraid that the sounds of the shutter may give Wilbur the impression that he was more of a subject than a friend. While I regret not capturing more personal moments, it’s comforting to know he didn’t experience them all alone.
©2022 Jessie Johnson.
Occasionally pausing on our walks to record the birds singing. San Francisco, 2005
Sometimes we would just sit quietly, listening to the television. San Francisco, 2005
Sculptures, paintings from friends, and 30-year old plants lined the apartment surfaces. San Francisco, 2005
Monthly checks written using a signature guide. San Francisco, 2007
San Francisco, 2007
The manager often teased Wilbur about having enhanced listening skills. Polk Street Station, San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2008
Checks waiting to go out to Wilbur’s landlord and to pay off his bodega tab were kept in a bible next to a small photo of an old friend, Very Reverend Howard M. Rasmussen. San Francisco, 2006
Staying in contact with friends. San Francisco, 2006
San Francisco, 2008
Posing in a saucy sailor outfit for Halloween, along with stuffed animals given to him by a close friend. San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2005
After lunch on Saturdays: Cala Foods, the liquor store, lottery tickets. San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2005
Lighthouse bingo night. San Francisco, 2005
A remaining gift from Gil, who Wilbur often described as, “My lover, my brother, my father.” Gil lived down the hall in the same apartment building on Pine Street. In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Gil ran from his job at the Chronicle to Wilbur’s apartment to make sure he was safe. San Francisco, 2005
Paratransit scrips ensured Wilbur was provided cab rides all over the city. San Francisco, 2006
Anxious to collect his voicemails when feeling low. San Francisco, 2009
Lighthouse Halloween. San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2005
San Francisco, 2008
San Francisco, 2006
I visited Wilbur in the hospital when we first met and again just before he died, the only two times I saw him without his glasses. San Francisco, 2009
