From Irreverence to Reverence, Fourth of July

Now I'm going to get serious for a moment. On the Fourth of July, I was supposed to meet another Irreverent Reverend woman and her husband for fireworks in a nearby city by the sea. Unfortunately they cancelled at the last minute. By that time, I was sitting by the sea in my lawn chair with a bottle of water and a book and was quite comfortable. My friend invited me to come to where she was, but I declined. I was fine with watching fireworks solo as they exploded in brilliant colored flowers over the bay. However, I had been imbibing bottled water for quite some time and my bladder was backing up. I had been chatting with a friendly Hispanic family who had set up camp next to me. There was Grandpa, Grandma, their three daughters, and nine grandchildren. The grandparents didn't look old enough to be grandparents and their daughters didn't look old enough to be mothers. Anyway, the grandfather's name was Joe. I didn't get the grandmother's name. One of their daughters had three children and was pregnant with her fourth. The grandmother told me that her daughters tried to get her to watch all nine of the kids while the daughters were at work or at school. The grandmother described having the nine grandchildren as "very stressful." At that point, with my bladder insisting on quick relief, I asked Joe if he'd be so kind as to watch my lawn chair while I excused myself. Joe said he'd be happy to do it. I hastened across the street to use the facilities in the swanky hotel there. After doing so, I had a sudden inspiration, I stopped at the hotel coffee shop on the way out and bought their last two giant chocolate chip cookies. When I got back to my lawn chair, I gave the cookies in a bag to Joe. "Here. Thanks for watching my stuff. I'm grateful, and I brought you these cookies to share with your kids."

To say the least, this family didn't look like they ate fancy cookies often. Joe broke the cookies into fragments so that everybody got some. He did it with the reverence of a priest serving them Holy Communion. The expression of bliss on everyone's faces as they received and tasted those cookies was a wonder to behold. I was awed and humbled. We really do receive our greatest rewards when we serve the poor. I'm glad I asked them for a favor first, however. Nobody wants to be somebody else's charity project. This way it was a partnership. In my mind's eye, I can still see the grandparents, their grown daughters, and all those grandchildren with eyes closed and tongues running over their lips as they tasted those delicious cookies. I can still see the smeared chocolate on the babies' faces, and their smiles.

I'm going to remember this for a long time.