Where time stands still

Formica nation
Montreal, QC
November 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Welcome to the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary Coffee Shop. It sits in a dimly lit corner of this hospital, and is open Monday to Friday from noon to 3:30 p.m. Outside of those all-too-brief hours, it's a place where time seems to have stood still since pre-drug-addict Elvis.

Peeking through the window reveals a world that no longer exists outside of this institution, yet for anyone unlucky enough to be stuck here, it represents something of an oasis, a place where they can reconnect, however fleetingly, to a life they long ago left behind.

On the surface, it's dusty, with paint that was probably faded when it was first laid down all those years ago, and has only gotten less saturated since then, as if the colors never belonged here in the first place. The worn formica counters wear the scratches and gouges of countless meals, conversations, and moments, as testament to lives lived - well, not-so-well, it's impossible to know.

Yet it feels strangely comforting to stare through the window, this lens into a now-vanished time and now-invisible people. I can't imagine this space being used any more appropriately, and I hope the patients and families who spend too much time here feel some of the warmth I feel as I stand here and drink the scene in.

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