My Friend Ambro - A Remarkable And Unique Man

This is a story about a remarkable man named “Ambro”. According to a psychologist friend, Ambro is the kind of guy found only in about 8% of men. A rare person indeed. He profoundly touches and changes the lives of those whom he befriends.

About 15 years ago, he saved my life and then about 6 years ago, he saved the life of a Kurdish man from Turkey. Who knows how many other lives he may have saved. Only God knows that. But before I share with you those details, here is a little bit about his history.

Ambro was given up at birth and adopted at the age of two weeks. He was born premature and was a frail infant but quickly gained good health under the care of his new parents and his new grandparents. As a child, he was very curious about the world around him and although hearing impaired, his other senses seemed to make up for that loss. Especially his sense of empathy. That is unusual in a child so young.

Around the age of six, his grandfather who partially raised him, introduced Ambro to the world of gardening. It became a hobby and an art for him. From then on you could always find him working/playing in the garden.
Then around the age of ten, Ambro learned carpentry skills from his father and grandfather and so he became good at building things.

In school, he was highly intelligent and did well in his grades. The kids he chose to befriend were often those who were picked on by bullies. Ambro became their defender. Bullies feared Ambro. He always stood up for the oppressed. His teachers noticed this and later on would say that he was destined for something special.

After graduating from high school, Ambro’s ambition was to become a priest with a degree in psychology. “Father Ambro” Imagine that. He always was such a good listener to other people’s problems and gave good advice. He was a good judge of character, had a remarkable sense of intuition and often understood things in people that were hidden. So it was no surprise that he wanted to become a priest and a therapist.

He entered the seminary when he was 20 years old but it would not last long. In the seminary he encountered bigotry from certain conservatives which he felt went against the teachings of Christ. One disappointment led to another and within a very short time, he dropped out of the seminary believing that there was a better way to serve God.

And there was a better way. In the years that followed, he touched the lives and hearts of many people. People with evil or criminal intentions kept their distance from him. He was like a lantern in the darkness always spreading comfort and good cheer wherever he went.

The whole world interested him. Nothing seemed to bore him. Children and pets sensed his genuine goodness and liked him immediately. Plants and flowers thrived under his care. People felt safe and loved around him.

So although he took on jobs that had nothing to do with psychology, he did work around a lot of people in blue collar jobs. He came to know a lot of people personally. He was known for being a faithful friend and a confidant.

I met Ambro at a social function in 1995. At that time, he was doing volunteer work helping people with HIV. He would get groceries for them, clean their homes and apartments and run other errands they needed done. Most of all, he would befriend them and listen to them. He would comfort those who were ill and frightened. He was not afraid to be around people with HIV. In time, he lost some friends to this horrible disease.

We soon formed a friendship and became housemates. Little did he know what was in store for him.

I have a condition called Bi-polar Syndrome. In our second year, I abused drugs and eventually that led to a full scale manic attack. I became mean and cruel and I aimed it all at Ambro. First I became verbally abusive towards him for a couple of months. Then I became physically abusive. He endured it all. He understood that my mind was falling apart.  I know I hurt him terribly. Finally, one night after I threw every dish in the house at him, he called a friend of ours and together they forced me to check into the emergency room at a local hospital.

Upon seeing my insane behavior, the friend quickly left but not Ambro. He stood by my side at the hospital while I quickly unraveled and deteriorated mentally. I eventually had to be put under a suicide watch. All through the night, Ambro was next to me, enduring my insults and my agony.
He also contacted my friends and family that night. This was not my first bi-polar attack although it was the first time Ambro had the misfortune to witness it. My family and friends, having been through this before, kept a safe distance from me while I spent a month in a mental ward on medications that would eventually bring me back to normal.

It was Ambro who convinced my doctors to change my medication to a new one that worked better. It was Ambro who came to see me everyday after work. It was Ambro who comforted me during rough moments in the hospital when I would break down crying rivers of tears. It was Ambro who tried to make the sun shine and the days seem brighter.

After about a month of treatment, I became less manic and entered a severely depressed state. Once I was no longer a threat to myself or to anyone else, my doctors met with Ambro and it was decided that I could be released. I returned to our home and slowly recovered from my depression, thanks to no one other than Ambro. I was unemployed and Duran paid all the bills.

The whole ordeal delivered a serious blow to our relationship. It was I who then decided it was best that I move out and let Ambro have the lease on the house. Of course he didn’t want me to leave but I couldn’t put him through that again.

We finally mutually agreed to separate but our friendship did not end. instead, we grew closer and became the very best of friends. I looked back on our ordeal and realized some things. When I was lost, he helped me find myself. When I was lonely, he was there for me. When I was sick and at my rope’s end, he comforted me. When everyone else kept their distance from me, he endured me. When I hurt him so terribly, he forgave me.

But his unconditional love doesn’t end there.  On the terrible day of September 11th, 2001, a young Kurdish man from Turkey came across Ambro’s personal profile on a website for international pen pals. The young man was of the Muslim faith but was from a very liberal pro-western family. The Turkish man knew very little about America but he and Ambro quickly became cyber friends. Again, Ambro is easy to like. People quickly warm up to him even via the internet. Six months later, Ambro brought the young man to the USA and hired a lawyer to help him win asylum because of his Kurdish heritage.  During the year and a half that it took to win the case, Ambro took very good care of his Kurdish friend. He helped him learn English. He introduced him to other good people. He helped him make new friends. He supported him financially, bought him clothes, fed him, gave him a place in his home and helped him adjust to American society. When his asylum case was won, Ambro helped him find a good job. And in May of 2006, the young Kurdish man was ready to move out and be on his own. He had been like a son to Ambro and seeing him leave, broke Ambro’s heart the way any parent would feel when a child moves out into the world.

When the Kurdish man moved out, Ambro found himself at a crossroad in his life. I had married and moved to Chicago, so I couldn’t be much a part of his life anymore. He felt that he was no longer needed by anyone an that now was the time to make a life changing decision. It was time to make a life long dream come true. That dream was to move to California.

I never told you that Ambro has a medical condition which makes him susceptible to asthma and respiratory infections. As he becomes older, he runs a risk at catching pneumonia because of the brutal cold winters of his home state. He actually looks 10 years younger than he really is because he takes good care of himself and has an upbeat healthy attitude towards life. He has never lost his childhood enthusiasm. His life-force is very strong.
So, he sold all that he had which wasn’t much, packed his bags and he moved to California to begin a new life where the winters are not so cold.
He moved in with one of his cyber friends until he could find a job and get a place of his own.

So now, he is a stranger in a strange land. It is not easy to leave behind all that one has and begin a new life far from home. But he is determined. Ambro has a way of making his dreams come to life. One day he will find someone again to care for. I spoke with him on the phone the other day and he said that at first he felt severely homesick and depressed. But he pulled himself through it. Job hunting is a bit of a hassle but he will find something and is also considering turning some of his artistic hobbies into a source of income.

He has always been a social person but hasn’t yet had the chance to go out and meet new people. He told me that after a day of job searching, he looks towards the west at the setting sun with it’s red and gold fire. It reminds him that a new day will dawn bringing with it the promise of hope and things to come, of friendship and love waiting to be found. That he says, is the Triumph of Time.

How lucky are the people whom he meets and befriends.