HEALED BY MEDICAL SCIENCE— WORKING BY THE GRACE OF GOD

      I was sick, I tell ya! Two weeks of pillow fluffing and chicken soup. Boy was it good to get back in the shelter-kitchen saddle today!

       Spring is toying with us! The windows are open. The parking lot and the shelter are full. I was sure these circumstances were paired with bone-chilling weather. Not.

       Dean had the back door open, and I found him lying on the floor, trying to crank up the deep fryer. Miss Lillian had ordered pizza and onion rings for lunch, but the fryer refused to budge. A phone call soon enlightened Dean: the fryer had been "turned off" in such a way as to keep it off until some special person did some special thing to it. Doesn't matter.

       He looked at me. "What can we make to go with this pizza?"

       I found some fries in the freezer, but they too required deep-frying. I'm sure you know my ultimate solution… and the brew was good, if I say so myself.

       We had a dozen or more cold plates of beans and cabbage with cornbread and macaroni 'n cheese, and Mr. Huggy had left instructions to serve out a half gallon of beets. We were going to throw those out and keep it a secret, but I decided to put the beets on the serving counter in little bowls, just in case someone had a taste for them. They did.

       There's a new gatekeeper, and he seems capable, but he's just learning the ropes. I was shocked to learn that Dean has not yet figured out who eats first (and what), after his many weeks in this service. So I told him, "The pre-release eat first and best." Now he knows. I can't imagine the stink that would have ensued if he had served the homeless residents first!

       The new gatekeeper didn't know the drill either, but he's a nice guy, and I guess I'll see more of him. It felt quite odd having two middle-aged men looking to The Sunday Lady for guidance.

       Dean had the best time feeding people today! He even took food into the dining room and served extras—Lillian would have had a stroke! He complained often and bitterly that Mr. Huggy is stingy with food and gives child-size portions. Of course, I don't witness those meals, but Dean says the people are really disappointed and unhappy when they leave the dining room after a Huggy meal. While Miss Lillian is still chief chef, these guys taking up the Joey slack aren't yet cutting muster—Huggy because he's stingy, and Dean because he's cowed. He loves it when I am there and we find ways to give the folks all the food they want, without cutting into Lillian's meal plans. Maybe some of my attitude will rub off on Dean. I hope so.

       We had two little girls today, about 9 and 10. I gave them each a Beanie bear and a candy bar. You should have been there! Those kids and their mother are some of the most appreciative that I've seen. It's a joy to give them things. They reveled in their new "babies," and very soon had those babies swaddled in little blankets and were skipping through the lunchroom in animated play. Dean watched them with a big smile on his face.

       And there was this fellow in that homeless group who saw me with the bears. "How cute!" he said. "I want one…"

       So, I got him a beautiful red-breasted robin from the toy bag, but he wanted a bear. "I don't have anymore bears today," I said.

       "What have you got?" he asked.

       "I have a rat…"

       "Oh! I'd love that!" he said. And he did. Then he slid it stealthily into his pocket, lest there be a run on the "me too" thing. He's got a child in mind for the rat—a little boy, I think. Dean had seen the bird and decided it would be perfect for his grandson. Everybody's happy.

       Well, this appears to be the new routine—the new staff. Joey won't be back, and he did nothing to precipitate his requested departure. It's just one of those very sad things that comes from places of authority and cannot be changed. Of course, he's still my buddy and I'll keep you posted on his GED progress.