ALL CHOKED UP

WOW! I figured it was gonna happen sooner or later which is why I was hesitant to work serving the public as a server. Today was the day I was blind sided when I got all choked up at work. I so did not see this one coming. I have waited on people before with a son that reminded me of Andrew, but today? This one brought me to tears. That has never happened to me before. Granted, I haven’t been there that long, but I have waited on a lot of people. Today I had to take a few minutes to pull myself together.

I see a family come in with a young man in a wheel chair. Not your run of the mill wheel chair either. It was one of those mac daddy ones that had the head rest and all. Didn’t think anything of it as they came in. It wasn’t until they were at their table of my service partner, Calvin, that I was “hit” with this amazing energy.

I take the time to notice them since I am there to help Calvin as he is there to help me. This young man’s energy hit me between the eyes! Even thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes. This young man could not speak, he could not even feed himself, it might have been a severe case of cerebral palsy, not really sure. But one thing he could do, was smile! He had the biggest, brightest smile that I haven’t seen since Andrew! He smiled at me every time I looked over at him. It felt like a hug from Andrew every time he smiled at me. It went right through my heart! This kid was so powerful! He has the same presence as Andrew. All Andrew had to do was walk into a room, or people come into his hospital room, and they could feel his joyful, peaceful, loving presence. Even though this young man could not speak or do anything for himself, he had the same joyful, peaceful, loving energy Andrew had. I can’t even adequately explain the energy, it is beyond this dimension. And the people at his table? Just wonderful! I think they know what amazing gift they have in this young man.

One of the other servers, Marlon, told me that it was this young man’s graduation and that he was 22yo. Of course he was! I told Marlon that if his name was Andrew, that was it, I was gonna collapse right then and there. He did not know his name. I tried to be in this young man’s presence every chance I could. He was so handsome. He had a white shirt and tie on. His hair was a bit tussled like Andrew’s would be when he tried to make it nice. It’s hard to describe how this young man made me feel.

I sat in “Flo,” a section of Olive Garden they don’t use for lunch off season too much. I told my trainer Pat that it should be our club house. :-D Us servers like to hang out there when we are not busy. Today I used it to breathe and pull myself together. Tim, one of the managers, who lost a sister to Leukemia when he was 13yo, asked me if I was ok. I told him I was, but my voice said other wise. He came over to me and I explained to him about the effect this young man had on me. He was very kind and understanding. He said it was a good thing. I agreed. While it brought me to tears, I genuinely felt blessed having been in the presence of this young man today.

Grief is a funny thing. You just never know when or how it will hit you! BUT….

IT’S ALL GOOD!