another gift in the middle...

out of an elevator

i met a man 
i'll call him Henry
his hair was as white as white can be

his eyes were hazel-gray, white and hazy
his skin was chapped dry from the sun 
in Miami
as he stepped out of the elevator
he told me he was almost ninety

he said he had an appointment with someone
but the girl was asking for identification
so he went out to get his wallet 
from the car to check in

but the thing is he was on the wrong floor
i wasn't that girl
and we just don't service 
what he was looking for

my first thought was,
"do you have an appointment here?"
and i said that really

because again
i was looking at the next person 
to help get inside Pilates

the more i got lost in 
his stream of consciousness
halfway through that conversation

i realized that question 
need not be answered
maybe he stepped out of the elevator 
for another reason

he said
"raise your hand if you want to talk
i'm going to give you a test later"
but i wasn't his pupil either

he started telling me stories
Miami
New York
California
the scenes just kept changing
the timelines just didn't align

one moment, World War II
then the other, integration as a teacher 
in North Miami
then back to New York again
maybe as a banker on Wall Street

then in California
where he was paid a salary for a job 
that didn't match its description

he had also met a girl
he said one as sweet as one can be
who wanted the beaches down south

so to make her smile
he decided to pack their memories
and send them all to Miami

he started talking about his friend named Junior
who signed up for the army
was it World War II again?
i do not know
i didn't ask

but one thing his friend did say was this:
"Henry, i'm changing my name 
and joining the army"
Henry asked him, "Why?"
then he said, "Honor for dad and family"

i stared into those gray eyes 
for some meaning
to anchor the biography
with some dates, maybe

but with no intermission, he said
"i'm going to give you another quiz in French
so don't take off your jacket,
because that would be cheating"

then i realized something
from those scattered memories
there's something in the in-between
this job in itself is somehow a gift

because i got to ask myself 
the real question:
What to do with what God 
has placed in front of me?

i had to go to work that day to meet Henry
because there are so many blessings
that one cannot purchase with insurance cards
the gift of memories
that seem to always flow linearly

and the truth is
we're all waiting on something
but why is slowing down listening so hard?

we all have something we're chasing 
where a building seems more like 
a stepping stone
but how about His reflection built from dust

would someone know i'm a Jesus follower
just by my presence being present?

I know this will seem small
but shouldn't it really 
be about this fine print
choosing to listen always 

and you may wonder
what happened to Henry that day?
but i'll keep it a sure secret my friend
because that wasn't the meaning of the story

he came out of the elevator
with no intermission
organizing scenes that he couldn't remember

he said 
"i'm going to give you a quiz"
but in an hour
he gave me a lesson.

---

Heart Call:

Your everyday blessings too my friend are a gift from God. A Sound Mind. Health. Family. Job. A roof.

• Are you looking at the blessings in your life for what they actually are?

xoxo,
Lynn :)

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Photo Credits: Photo by Zakaria Zayane.