It was a good night at the Men’s Warming Shelter. Papa John’s donated a lot of pizza and everyone loves pizza night. Plus, choice of chicken or beef nachos. And pop, which we don’t always have.
We were also celebrating two birthdays, which meant ice cream and cupcakes. One of the birthdays was for the shelter’s top volunteer. He’s invested untold hours in the men, both at the shelter and driving them to job interviews and doctor’s appointments. He’s counseled and chastised and loved them all. Thanking everyone for helping him celebrate his 75th birthday, he said—arcing his hands as if shooting a basketball—he’s entering the fourth quarter and, while he’s not able to play quite as well as he did in the first three quarters, he’ll play until the end.
The energy was good last night. Not that it’s ever bad, but last night as I was washing dishes I could feel it crackling. Every table was full of talk. Frequent laughter.
I wanted to write this down to remind myself and others that, however grim the headlines are, there are warm, bright moments happening everywhere, all the time.