"I hawk papers like they did back in the '30s and '40s," Merlyn says.
It's been a long time since the days of newspaper boys shouting on street corners, but if there were to be a reincarnation of sorts, Merlyn would be it. Except louder.
And it makes sense. Merlyn started selling Real Change nearly 10 years ago, plenty of time to develop a repertoire of hilarious one-liners. My favorite: "Trust me, I'm a salesman!"
But Merlyn has a lot of other experience under his belt, too: Journeyman carpentry, roofing and firefighting. He also has a lot of memories. Like, for instance, the time he roofed in the dead of an Idaho Falls winter in fourteen below zero weather, the seemingly endless days as a carpentry apprentice, and the restless nights, the stress of responding every waking morning to another emergency.
That's when his addiction took over. Heroin. It had been casual for a while, but eventually there was no turning back. Days spent searching for the next fix, nights finding a place to sleep. Sometimes not sleeping at all.
It was about that time that he came to Seattle from Billings, Montana, with his best friend. "I'd always wanted to come to Seattle, and my best friend brought me here," Merlyn says, pausing for a moment to reflect. Because he needed to leave, he needed to start over.
And then it happened one day. He found his best friend on the shower floor. Overdosed.
It's taken a long time to be comfortable with that memory. To be able to talk about it. To accept that it wasn't his fault. But it's also that memory that has driven him to get clean. To remember where he's been, and where he's going.
And it was also about that time that he met Darcie, "the love of his life." Now, seventeen years later, they're still together, been together through thick and thin.
Now, you can find Merlyn and Darcie selling Real Change downtown at Seventh Ave. and Olive St., Monday through Friday.
And to his customers, he says, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support and all the love that you've given me. I wouldn't be where I am without you all."