This past Saturday, I made a trip to my favorite store. Well, I made two but I'll get to that in a minute. For my birthday in February, my basketball team gave me a gift card to Jos A Bank which had some money left on it. Additionally, our awesome WCS PTO blessed each faculty member with a $50 bill during Teacher Appreciation Week in May. Throw in a twenty dollar reimbursement from my mission trip AND a $25 coupon from the store if you spend $125 made a Saturday morning excursion to Jos A Bank almost a necessity. But when I arrived and asked for Silvia, the only salesperson in my fashion world, the nice gentleman behind the counter told me she would not be in until 2 PM. Then he added she also would be working on Sunday, then almost corrected himself with the words, "But it will be Father's Day for you." I smiled and told him I had no children and I should have thrown in that I wish I did. My guess is I also promised to return in the afternoon but I am foggy on that. I am pretty sure I was glowing, though- it's not every day you're mistaken for somebody's dad!
Sure enough, I was back in the store several hours later which was no problem as it is only a couple of miles from Chancellor's Fitness Center where I work out every day. (If you sign up as a member with me as your inspiration, 10% of your fee is taken off of my bill!) And as promised, Silvia was there and helped me get what I needed as always. As I headed out the door, Silvia called to me and I came back to the register, thinking I had left my wallet or keys or checkbook. But that wasn't it at all! An African American lady was apparently buying a Father's Day gift for her son and she said we were the same size. I passed on my clothing measurements for her to shop more accurately for the young man in her life. I asked her if her son was good looking to which she enthusiastically replied, "Of course!" Once more, I left with that good feeling when someone unexpectedly pays you a compliment!
How about that? In the span of several hours, someone thought I resembled a dad and someone thought I resembled their son, even overlooking racial differences. To be a son and a father are two of the great callings of this life. Often, people tell me I have hundreds of children, meaning my players and students, and it doesn't hurt my feelings. My take, even based on Bible stories, is that it is often more painful for women than men. (Sarah, Rachel, Elizabeth) Still, in all honesty, I wish I had kids with my last name. But I love what Solomon penned in Psalm 127, verse 3:
" Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him."
You see what I'm getting at, don't you? I was a gift from the Lord for Roger and Sarah Nelda Chesshir Hawley! I'm sure I was a gift with some unwieldy strings attached at times but a gift none the less. So, thanks to the nice folks whose names I don't know at Jos A Bank but who yesterday made me feel like a king...or a prince. In his hauntingly sad song, Father And Son, Cat Stevens played both sides of an uneasy relationship between parent and child. Well, I was both father and son this weekend at my favorite store, and that was the best gift I could have received!
To hear Cat Stevens sing Father And Son, copy and paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdMPuMeTxzY
Applicable quote of the day:
"No music is so pleasant to my ears as that word―father"
Lydia Maria Child
God bless,
Steve/Son of Roger and Nelda
Luke 18:1
To hear Cat Stevens sing Father And Son, copy and paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdMPuMeTxzY
Applicable quote of the day:
"No music is so pleasant to my ears as that word―father"
Lydia Maria Child
God bless,
Steve/Son of Roger and Nelda
Luke 18:1
No comments:
Post a Comment