Our flatmates Fred and Aliénor share their stories at TEDx Nantes
“It is never too late to succeed in life!”
Our flatmates Fred and Aliénor took to the TEDxNantes stage to talk about how they came to Lazarus. What an emotional story – but they managed to get through it despite the tears!
In this TEDx talk, Fred and Aliénor tell us about their parallel search for meaning, and how a decision to change the course of their lives led them to meet. Fred made the decision to get off the streets and Aliénor resigned from her corporate job and moved to another city. They didn’t know each other at the time, but they were both asking themselves the same questions about the meaning of life, and both were seized by the fear of missing out on something.
Two years ago, they became flatmates at Lazarus. They talk about the beauty of their flatmates’ lives – lives that don’t necessarily measure up to society’s standard of success. And they recount the miracles they’ve witnessed through ordinary lives lived in an extraordinary way.
“Jean-Claude, our flatmate, had spent 20 years in prison and 8 years on the streets before living with us at Lazarus. To the world, his life might seem like a failure. Yet, the church was full at his funeral. Afterwards, a woman in front of the church could be heard saying, “He must have been a great man!” He had so many friends at the end of his life that visits to the hospital had to be scheduled. It took Jean-Claude a long time, but he finally found his place.”
