Many of us pass by homeless people in the streets on the daily. At this point, it’s just a part of city life. The sad thing is that when you see something regularly enough, it becomes the norm. It shouldn’t, though. We shouldn’t be at ease seeing someone in filthy, tattered clothes, hungry, begging for money.

Sure, some people live that way by choice, but many wound up there by happenstance, and they are struggling to survive and dig themselves out of the “hole” they’ve found themselves in.

As one homeless ex-Marine has proven, you should never judge a book by its cover.

Donald Gould once served our country as a proud United States Marine.

The now 56-year-old was struck hard by the loss of his wife 22 years ago in 1998. Sadly, she took her life and left a heartbroken Gould and their then 3-year-old son behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered life.

Recovering from his wife’s sudden suicide proved more difficult than Gould himself could have ever imagined. He ended up struggling with drug addiction, and after his son was taken from him his life spiraled out of control even further.

It was wasn’t long before the ex-Marine found himself homeless and living on the streets of Sarasota, FL.

There he stayed, continuing to struggle through his addictions and running from the pain that plagued him. Then, something amazing happened. Sarasota Keys Piano Project was founded. It puts gorgeously painted spinet pianos out on the street for all the public to play, if they’d like.

“Sarasota Keys is a highly popular interactive public art project that combines music and art to beautify and energize the streets of downtown Sarasota. The project was created by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and developed through a unique partnership that involved city government, local businesses and the arts community,” writes Sarasota Arts on their website.

As it turns out, Gould, though down on his luck and out of practice, still had skills on the keys.

The homeless man was classically trained in piano from the time he was a young boy. According to his family, he has been gifted from the start, able to pick up just about any instrument and play with ease.

Sadly, many people would look at a homeless person in Gould’s state and assume that they don’t have many skills, but nothing could be further from the truth.

When Gould sat down at the piano, muscle memory took over and he laid into it to hammer out a beautiful tune. His skills on the keys began attracting attention pretty rapidly. As he continued to play during the piano project, more and more people found themselves stopping in their tracks to hear him.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before a video surfaced of Gould playing online and went insanely viral. Inside Edition has covered his amazing talent several times and even helped him connect to his son, who’s now grown.

He even ended up playing the National Anthem to a packed stadium of 75,000 people at the season-opening of the San Francisco 49ers.

The crowd was the largest Gould had ever played for, thanks to the kindness of people who learned his story. After videos of him playing as a homeless man were uploaded, millions of people responded with questions about his situation.

A GoFund Me account was opened for him that raised $40,000, along with plenty of job offers.

“It’s kind of surreal. I was this homeless guy on the streets and the next thing you know, I’m in the national spotlight, the world spotlight. While I’m performing there’s the crowd noise and there are fireworks going off, and I got earbuds in my ears but I couldn’t hear a thing of what I was playing; so, I’m just hitting the keys on the keyboard and hoping for the best,” Gould said.

Then another blessing came Gould’s way, in the form of Jacqueline Bevan.

Bevan is a life coach who’s dedicated her time and energy to helping Gould “reassimilate” and get used to being in society again after his long battle with addiction and depression. From the looks of it, things are going very well.

“Watching him go through everyday things and learning to live all over again and making new friends and doing positive things and just having a normal life, we’re so proud of him. It’s amazing,” Bevan said.

Gould’s internet appearances also scored him a record contract and he recently dropped his first CD, which can be found on Amazon.

Inside Edition gave Gould a full-on makeover and had quite a hand in helping the once-homeless veteran back on his feet. They even reached out to his son’s adoptive parents, who let their son see the video of his biological father’s impromptu piano performances.

After seeing how he’d cleaned up his act, the parents allowed and even encouraged a reunion via facetime. It lifted Gould’s spirits to meet his now-grown son. To know that he wasn’t hated by the son he had to give up meant the world to him.

Such a rapid change of circumstance, though a blessing, didn’t come without its stresses.

Gould suffered a heart attack awhile ago, but thankfully, he made a full recovery. He now spends time and money giving back to the people and organizations that have given him so much.

To learn more about Gould’s story and to hear the beautiful music the changed his life forever, watch the video below. Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Inside Edition/Western Journal/Donald Gould