AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CHINESE?

    Doug had the bagels on the work table when I arrived. I knew what to do with them. As he continued to work feverishly with dishwashing, mopping and dinner prep, I made 12 breakfast sacks and then 24 sandwiches for 12 sack lunches.

    A sweet young woman who works full-time there in the offices is now keeping the gate, and one of our previous gatekeepers will take the night duty (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.). I cannot imagine such a duty! Anyway, the place is functioning, but each one of us has a hole in our heart. The gatekeeper asked me if I would hire on to do lunch one day a week, and Doug told her the lifting would be too heavy. I'm thankful he saved me. Then he said I could be gatekeeper, but later he admitted to me that I'd be much too soft on the people. "Miss Joy, they beg for things! You'd hate it." That, and knowing that danger is as close as the front door are enough to dissuade me anyway.

    Doug made the potato soup and fried chicken nuggets for lunch. Each diner got fresh, homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies too! Those were lovingly prepared by my next-door neighbor. The shelter hasn't seen a homemade cookie in God-knows how long.

    Lunch was heavily attended today. I got to spend a few minutes with my little gay fellow—he's a bit down, but he's going to job interviews regularly. His dream is to own a boutique—one that serves coffee. I imagined some pretty clothes and accessories accompanied by the scent of Barnes and Noble. It's an idea.

    A new face came to the counter—very handsome, tall fellow (says he's 38 and wants credit for not being a kid). I told him, "I once had a husband who looked a lot like you." His curiosity was piqued!

     "What was he?" he asked. 

     "A wife beater and child abuser."

     "I mean what was his background?"
     "What do you mean?"
     "Where was he from?"

     "Oh. Just the South," I said.

     "Really? I'm full Chinese, you know."

     I was honest, "No, I didn't see that."

    I'm beginning to see souls. Why do we do that when it's too late to make much of an impact with what's left of our lives?

    So that led into further conversation, and I feel strongly that I have a new friend—for whatever reason. He spent quite a while playing with my little Play Doh boy who got the can of red today. It appears that the child is accompanied by his grandfather—a man with little energy for a 9-year-old.

    "Shot Cat" sweetie came to lunch. She's quiet today.

    To my great surprise, Fancy Lady has returned! The RULE is that once a person leaves the shelter's warm embrace, they are not allowed to return for a period of one year. The other women there are "pissed," according to Doug. Seems that Fancy Lady does a lot of "preaching" to them, and they don't want to hear it. ALSO, when she moved back in, Doug had to carry in her 57-inch television. Surely, there is a most curious story here—I'll stay tuned if you will.

    When the dining room was empty at last, I sought out Doug for a selfie of us to send to Hottie, but he was on the back porch talking on the phone. I figured he could multitask, so I approached him there and held out my phone for a picture. He said, "Oh, Miss Joy, here," and handed me his phone—it was Hottie :)

    We must have talked for 15 minutes. Hottie was with one of his kids, and they were working on a project for school. He wanted her to meet Miss Joy, so he put her on the phone and we chatted a bit. They are SO HAPPY to be together again! Too, I had the only picture of Hottie in his ponytail, and his kids wanted to see it. He is letting them into the whole story of his absence, which just sets him higher on my pedestal.

   After the long phone fest, Doug and I set to work filling the dinner plates with rice smothered in meatballs and gravy, peas and a roll. We made 40.

    And about the new radio/CD player... I might be just a tad sorry to have provided that—it surely plays well enough to drown out a lot of banter. Oh, and I killed my first squirrel today—it had run under the car and made a "thump-bump" before I knew it was there. To my dismay, they don't necessarily just fall down dead.