Gerbera Daisies... a walkin'
A journal entry from Wednesday, March 1, 2021
To be seen in a season of masks...
About two months ago, while working at Whole Foods, I had a beautiful experience that I haven't forgotten about but I was reminded of again when I cleaned the washing machine this morning and found the lost quarter in the filter.
It was a busy day at Whole Foods, and the In-Store Shoppers were even busier because of the pandemic. Shoppers were hustling and workers were trying to keep up with the never ending supply of orders. I was doing the same and packing up an order for delivery when these gorgeous gerbera daisies passed by near the floor and caught my eye. The gerbera daisies were being carried by this small masked child escorted by her masked mother. I politely called out saying something common about her perfect purchase of flowers... and she stopped and turned to me and her eyes smiled. I had seen her. Someone had seen her... someone in the land of giants had been a witness to her choice of buying flowers for a friend or loved one. I stopped what I was doing, got down at her eye level and spoke more to her. She stuck out her hand... her non-flower holding hand and offered me a quarter. Her mother said that she had been looking for someone to give the quarter to all morning... and it was like no one had seen her until now. I thanked her and told her I would think of her. I asked her how old she was... "3" and if she'd like to tell me her name... "Grace". I told her that I had a grown up daughter who's name was Faith and her eyes smiled again.
Grace, her mother, and I shared a beautiful moment of recognizing our humanity and what is "SAME" about us. In spite of my being white, a store worker, older, and Grace being black, a child, and only 3, we shared in our connectivity of humanness and being seen behind our masks.
A couple of weeks later, I saw Grace again. I called out to her by name; her joy of surprise at being seen once more spread to her eyes and this time she offered me a dime. I suggested she put the dime in her piggy bank... but her tenderness, joy, and generosity melted me and made my day just a little whole lot brighter.
I had intended to put her quarter in a safe place when returning home, but my jeans ended up in the wash without emptying my pockets. So today when I cleaned the washer and found the quarter in the filter, I was elated. Upon further inspection of the quarter, it is a 2017 Frederick Douglass quarter. Knowing her mother for even those brief moments, I can imagine that there was significance in that quarter, a story retold or something very special had transpired. Finding it today brought me great joy!!!
Flower arrangement and photo credit: Caro Cougill