PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Maurice Sorrell is on the receiving end of Pensacola’s love these days. But it’s only fitting. The popular street musician has spread more cheer up and down Palafox Street than Santa Claus, singing songs of love and harmony as people go to and fro during their busy day. A song with a smile and a hand-written sign in front of his guitar case that read “I Still Believe in Love” are his trademark.

But the sign is gone, lost in the flames of a devastating house fire that left Sorrell with burns on his face and hands and robbing him of all his earthly possessions, save the clothes on his back. The Dec. 1 fire left Sorrell homeless, injured and, in the aftermath, feeling more loved than ever.

Days after the fire, Sorrell, who turns 61 on Dec. 17, was back on Palafox strumming a guitar a friend loaned him since Sorrell’s two guitars were lost in the fire.

“It was a little hard to play with the bandages on my hands,” Sorrell said Dec. 7, “But I’ve got them off now, so it’s a little easier.”

The community has rallied around the cheerful busker, who started playing music when he was a high-school student in Okinawa, Japan.

Dan Girardin, a designer with SMP Architecture, which is located on Palafox, started a Go Fund Me page Dec. 5 to raise money to help Sorrell get back on his feet. The goal was $1,500. By the morning of Dec. 8, 113 people had contributed $4,340 for the fund. As he played Dec. 6, his face and hands covered in white creamy medication, people stopped to drop $5s, $10s and $20s into his guitar case. A few hours later, someone brought him a brand new guitar purchased from Blues Angel Music. That was while Blues Angel Music was planning on donating a guitar to Sorrell.

“We were going to take him a guitar,” said Dan Fugate, marketing director at Blues Angel Music. “But someone came by and purchased one for him. Straps and everything. We’re just happy he has something to play. I’ve seen him downtown playing many times. He has a beautiful voice.”

Girardin called Sorrell “a staple of downtown Pensacola. He makes people smile. He makes people happy. He’s got that sign ‘I Still Believe in Love’ that is such a positive message.”

And, already, a friend has volunteered to make Sorrell a more professional “I Still Believe in Love” sign for him to place in front of his guitar case while he plays.

“I was already humbled,” Sorrell said. “But now, I’m even more humble and more appreciative of this life.”

The musician hasn’t let the fire, the loss of possessions or his injuries deter his spirit.

“I just want people to hear a ditty and carry it around after lunch and maybe help relieve people’s stress a bit,” he said. “Life is too short. I just want to make people happy. Other people are going through things, too.”

He talked about the victims of the recent Oakland warehouse fire that killed 36 people.

“I prayed for them,” he said. “I prayed for the people in Gatlinburg. Life can just come and take every thing away. Sometimes you just have to drop back and punt.” And if you do, he said, you’ll soon enough get “four more downs.”

The fire started after Sorrell blew out some holiday candles before walking to a nearby store - he doesn’t own a vehicle.

When he returned home, the house was ablaze. He could hear the approaching fire engines, but tried to rescue some possessions, including his guitars. He suffered second degree burns on his face and left hand and third-degree burns on his right hand.

He doesn’t have health insurance, but was treated at a local hospital.

“I’m getting pointers and leads for medical assistance,” he said. “I’m feeling better and the pain isn’t as bad any more.”

On Dec. 7, folks who pass by Sorrell almost every day stopped by to check on him and drop a few dollars into his guitar case. They talked about the insignificance of material possessions in the big picture.

“They make stuff every day,” he said to Rick McLemore, a Pensacola engineer. “They make pallets of stuff. But they don’t make stuff like you and me.”

McLemore shook his head in agreement.

“When (Hurricane) Ivan flooded my house, I found out stuff don’t mean much of anything,” he said.

A few minutes later, Shawn Wood, who works at nearby V. Paul’s Italian Ristorante, stopped by to drop some money off for Sorrell.

“I love it when I come around the corner and hear him singing,” Wood said. “He’s awesome.”

Sorrell has been staying with friends - “ping-ponging,” he said - and is exploring other options such as the Waterfront Rescue Mission. But he still performs around lunch time each weekday and at the Palafox Farmers Market each Saturday.

“The people of Pensacola are beautiful,” he said. “I knew that already. I’m just trying to spread some love. And they’re loving me back.”

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Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, https://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com

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