French Fries, Faith and Losing a Friend.
There was a particularly desperate time in my life. At seven years old, Henry was in the full bloom of behaviors. In the car, he’d reach from the back seat to my driver’s seat and pull my hair. He’d scream. I’d scream. Once, I pulled under an overpass and we shrieked until there was no more sound. Then we drove on.
One of those shrieking, desperate afternoons I was wearing, sweat pants, and a pale t-shirt with a sweater, all purchased from the Longwood Goodwill, as were all my clothes at that time. Henry insisted we go inside to the play place. The play place was a particular trial for me. He’d loose his socks or shoes or some article of clothing up in the highest tube. His play would confuse and challenge the other kids. The fear of a toileting mishap was constant. That day I was too tired and beaten up to argue, so in we went.
In the warm afternoon I removed my sweater and left it in the car. It wasn’t until after we were in line that I saw that the pattern on my bargain box bra was showing through the modest pale pink shirt. I looked Iike I’d been panhandling for the 50 cents for our fries.
When we got to the counter, the kid stepped aside to let the manager assist us. I looked into the face of my friend and pastor, Orlando Rivera. He was getting a business degree and felt he needed to have real-world management experience. He was also pastoring a church downtown and had moved his family, his wife and and then three or four of what would ultimately become 10 children, to a home on Westmoreland Street. There in the poorest neighborhood, they lived church from their front porch.
It was school pick up time, so the play place was miraculously empty. Orlando took a break and brought a tray of fries — GFCF for Henry, vegetarian for him. We started what would be a semi-regular session. Henry played in his way and I received the counsel of my friend, pastor and manager of the Winter Park McDonalds.
Last week, I got a text from my friend Sheryl whose birthday falls on August 3rd, the same day as mine, the same day as Orlando’s. “Our birthday brother…” it started. I read it several times without understanding. Tragic. Traffic. Accident. Lost. And then I found myself on the ground and heard a wailing sound. My husband was next to me holding my phone saying, “I’m so sorry.”
Nothing in my faith tradition, religious practices or in holy text helps me make sense here. There is no a+b=c to look up. There’s no information to apply that helps me understand.
But here’s what comes to me from the mystery of faith: the resonance of a man who took time for french fries with a desperate mother is eternal. It rings now in the lives of his children. It rings now in my life and Henry’s life. And its beautiful sound is ringing now in the heavenlies.
