Fed and FULL

This evening after my book club meeting I decided to swing by the nearby Soul Food spot and pick up some dinner.

What I ordered required a 15 minute wait which was fine with me because I always have a book handy to help pass the time.

So I take my seat and begin to read.

A few minutes in, one of the servers turns on some music. No biggie. I can read with music.

Soon thereafter, he starts singing.

Then I hear the lady sitting next to me who's also singing. She was pretty good...and so was he.

Well...he got louder, and the louder he got...the BETTER he got. This dude's singing was OFF DA CHAIN!

I was entranced. I closed my book and just watched him and listened.

Next thing I know, the lady sitting next to me has turned her chair around and asked me, "Who is that? Where's that singing coming from?"

I told her that it was the tall, dark, older gentleman behind the counter. She too agreed that his voice was amazing.

Now I don't know if it was because I'm missing "Joe" while he's out of town (which I'll write about in a later post), but I'll be dag-gone if this dude didn't remind me of him. There was something about the heart and soul that he put into the song...something SPECIAL that he added that made the song his own...just like Joe does. It was like I was listening to Joe 20 years from now. I could have listened to this man ALL NIGHT.

As I continued to wait for my food, the lady told me that she'd heard him singing there before but that she doesn't come too often because she lives in Cerritos. I then told her that I'm also not there often because I live near Cerritos (which is no where near the restaraunt we were at).

I then told her that I tend to stop by after my book club meeting and she soon began asking me about the club. Apparently her daughter has been looking for a book club with predominantly African American women and I told the woman that that is exactly what my club is.

What she said next almost made me cry. She said, "I'm gonna tell my daughter about the book club because if YOU'RE in it, then it's where she needs to be. You have AMAZING energy." That was such a compliment to me. I don't know what it is...perhaps it's the "Jesus in me"...I don't really know. What I do know is that there IS something special in me and people just FEEL it when they're around me. I don't say this to toot my own horn...I've just gotten to a point where I accept and acknowledge whatever this is, and if it makes people want to be around me...or know that I'm someone GOOD to be around...then I'll take it...gladly.

She and I talked some more and next thing I knew, we were exchanging numbers. I know...I know...I don't know her from "Eve" but something about it just felt okay.

She wanted my info so that she could give it to her daughter. Sure, she could have just given her daughter the book club info, but before I knew it, she had my number and sent me a text with her info. Something about her just made me so comfortable.

I'm still waiting for my food, and we start talking about books and authors. She tells me about one that I had JUST heard of earlier today. She told me how FANTASTIC this author's books are and that I really need to check out her work.

Next, she tells me about the book club that she's been in for 30 years. She said that the club isn't perfect, but she's been in it so long...she just decided to stick with. Then, she said something that actually did make me tear up a bit. She told me her age. She's 64.

That's the same age that my Mom would have been if she were still here. 64

And at that moment, that whole encounter made sense to me. God was giving me a little bit of what I needed to make me feel better about the ones I'd been missing.

He gave me Teddy (that's the singing server's name)...to remind me of Joe, and make me smile.

And he gave me Katarina (even if just for those few minutes) to remind me of my Mom, and in an odd way...what a Mother's love feels like. The way that I opened up to her just felt so "natural". Now I think I understand why. God just wanted me to feel that motherly connection, even if it was with a complete stranger.

Who knows. Some folks may call me crazy. But in that brief visit to the Soul Food joint, much more than my body got nourished. My soul was fed...and got FULL.

Let the DIALOGUE begin: Have you ever encountered a stranger who unexpectedly filled a void?

Talk to me!

Til next time...