Sad, and yet ... still beautiful.
One of the last of the classic American hobos was named Hobo Shoestring, who lived into the YouTube age -- Mark Nichols was his name, and one of the stories he told was how many hobos kept later generations of hobos and poor people alive by planting fruit trees as they went. Those trees have now outlived the time of the hobos in general, but still are feeding people. Your story captures something very deep...