HONEY, I'M HOME!

       Driving into town this morning, Map wondered (as did I) what sort of circumstances I would find at the shelter kitchen—was there still a place for me; would everything be changed?
       To my delight, the only things changed were some of the faces (and we wanted those to change because it meant people had found jobs and moved on).
       Joey let me in, and what a hug we had! "Welcome back, Miss Joy!"
       Within 5 minutes he had named all the people there who told him to tell me "hey" for them, said I had quite a following, and gave me the scoop on school. Guess what? Joey is scheduled to graduate this fall! THIS FALL! As in "by Christmas."
       And then he wants to take a theater class at community college! College!
       He had a million questions about France. He said he'd been using the globe and world map I gave him for Christmas, but he admitted he doesn't have a clue where France is. He has no concept of what France is. Did we see the Eiffel Tower? Is it really leaning? Do they have towns in France? Did you go to any places where there were poor people? How much does it cost to ride the train?
       Maybe Joey needs to bring his world map to the kitchen where we can look at it together.
       My special fellow was there, waiting for a huge hug! We've been writing while I was away, and his life is seeing a lot of positive growth.
       My life, on the other hand, doesn't seem changed at all. I counted sack lunches in the refrigerator, did the math on what we needed, and set about making 29 more as if I'd just done it yesterday. Joey had our C&W station pumping out the oldies. Other than not having to put away a coat, scarf, and gloves, I never felt the re-entry.
       The door-opener girl is pregnant. She came to the kitchen rubbing her belly and talking about hunger. Joey reminded her that she'd been a little sick yesterday, then gave her every piece of motherly advice about her "condition" that he had: "Don't eat anything greasy. Eat some soda crackers. Don't put anything heavy on your stomach. Have some crackers." Somewhere down in that child's soul is a grandmother just doing her job.
       Well, my body thinks it's 7:30 p.m., but I expect to be cured of jet lag in another few days. Still, going "to work" this morning was a stretch, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I hope you haven't forgotten the kitchen—apparently it's like the poor… it will always be with us.