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There's just something wonderful about going to weekend brunch.
I think it's like going for high tea in the afternoon with the Ladies, there's something so impractical and unproductive about scheduling a meal in the middle of the day. It's probably what makes it so nice. You've blown that part of the day, so you're more likely to sit, exhale, and enjoy the company and the meal, rather than cram the get together between a zillion other things you packed into your day.
I was invited to a particularly delightful brunch this last weekend.
My friends Margaret and Dick hosted brunch at Café 458 here in Atlanta. The food was Southern, awesome, and nutritionally naughty. I had the Eggs Benedict with Carolina pulled pork, Dijon hollandaise and spiced greens. My taste buds are watering and arteries clogging all over again just thinking about that meal.
As good as the food was, the conversation was even better. Café 458 is a special place tied to Samaritan House. This is a place committed to helping homeless folks get back on their feet. No dead end shelter here.
We got to meet and eat with some folks currently going through the program. If I didn't already believe in the theme "Show The World What's Possible!" Ron and his wife, Tiffany would convince me.
They shared their story and their perspective without a drop of victimhood.
Until earlier this year, Ron had a good job with MARTA, the local transporation agency. But he fell off a ladder one day and missed some days at work. "I get it," he shared. "They have a zero tolerance policy. No work, no job."
Only that meant that they soon fell way behind of their rent. And they lost their home.
"Dig in your pocket," he asked all of us around the table. "Each one of you has something precious in there. Keys." He pointed out that keys are something so much more than something to jingle. To Ron and his wife they represent keys to a home, a car, and stability.
"It's coming," he assured us. "Things are getting better." He and his wife are using the services of Samaritan House to turn things around. It's a place to get a good meal, to have a voicemail box so potential employers can call back on job leads, to do laundry, and store their belongings.
"A place to keep our things," Ron shared. He got choked up just thinking about what that means to them. It means they don't have to cart their things from job interview to job interview and all over the streets.
"Don't get me wrong," he shared. "I have my bad days. I wake up frustrated and angry sometimes." Yes, even this determined optimistic man is human. "I woke up the other morning angry that I didn't have new sneakers. 'Why can't I have new shoes?' I wondered. Then, I headed out onto the streets. I saw a man that day with no feet. That put an end to my whining about the lack of new sneakers."
"I am blessed. I am just so blessed." That's how Ron wrapped up his comments, as he sat down to eat with the rest of us. I can't imagine finer company for that delicious meal.
So thank you to our hosts, Margaret and Dick. Thank you to Samaritan House and Café 458 for the great work you're doing. And most of all, thank you to Ron and Tiffany for the most wonderful serving of showing what's possible. I appreciate these are incredibly hard times for them, but I also believe with their attitude, faith, and determination, their blessings have just begun.
So, when you do something as ordinary today as put the key in your front door or in the ignition of your car, appreciate what those keys mean. And please send a thought out to the Rons and Tiffanys out there. Hard working folks, climbing back, making the most of a well-thought out non-profit like Samaritan House.
Here's to the day in the not too distant future when Ron and Tiffany are jingling their new set of keys.
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