Courage and humor

In the mid-seventies I used to deliver bread to some of the stores in Atlanta. One of my favorite stops was at a Big Star store at Ansley Mall. The mall was situated in a predominantly Jewish section of Atlanta with a large population of elderly. I would often wonder about the many oldsters that I would see there, most of them quiet; either shopping or sitting outside waiting for the bus, talking among them selves, enjoying each others company. Others seemed lost in their thoughts, some lonely, and a few that were obviously in the early stages of dementia.

There was one very sweet, short and lively Jewish lady that I would see every week when I delivered my bread. It was on a Tuesday, when I made my stop at this particular store and I guess she always went shopping that day around 10 AM, the time I usually arrived to make my deliveries. She always bought Jewish Rye and would sometimes ask me to reach up and get a loaf for her. She must have been in her 80’s and always had something funny to say to me.

One morning I arrived at my isle and started to fix up my section on the shelf allotted to me. There she stood, well dressed as usual, but this day she seemed a bit pensive, so I decided not to disturbed her thoughts. She was talking to herself, complaining that” yet again they raised the price of Jewish Rye” and she was trying to decide if she should buy it. It was a nickel more than the week before, so I surmised that she was on a very limited income. I was a little disturbed about this, not greatly, but was saddened that our old people have to often struggle alone in their last years, with no one to help, at least as far as their limited income goes. So she was talking about this with herself, when suddenly she brighten up, pulled up her shoulders and said just a little louder: “well sweetheart, you are not going to be around much longer, so we might as well get what we want”……with that she got the bread, looked over at me, wished me a good day and walked off.

I was for some reason, on that day just over 30 years ago, touched by her ability to find humor in her situation and her ability to embrace life with grace and I guess spunk. As she was walking down the isle towards the check out counter I began to see her in a different, deeper light; she seemed taller, younger and still very much in charge of her life.

Humor is often unappreciated. It is truly something great. The ability to perhaps gently laugh at ourselves, a prod to keep us going and to simply live life more fully…… Courage and humor or so common that it is often ignored and bypassed, but for some reason, on that day, I was deeply touched by a little old woman with deep wells of humor in her young soul and the courage to continue living with grace.

Most memories are buried deep, consigned to oblivion difficult to extract. Others like this one become for me a doorway into the transcendent, caught unawares as I often am, a bright candle in a large dark cavern showing me the way.