Next door to where I work (good god, I keep wanting to type 'next store') is a place called Java Street Cafe. I've been eating there fairly often since I first started working here--it's always been within walking distance, and though it might be a touch on the expensive side, the food is delicious and the service is absolutely wonderful.
Not too long ago, we heard that Simon, one of the co-owners, had cancer--bone marrow cancer that had spread to his stomach, no less. They were trying to find bone marrow donors, and held a couple of donation drives, funded by the family, for people to get tested.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. Simon died over the weekend, and Java was closed on Tuesday for his funeral. I went in yesterday, and just...how do you know what to say to that? I talked to his sister (the other co-owner) briefly, and she said that they're doing as well as can be expected. She said that she'd kick his butt' for leaving her alone like this.
I'm not sure what prompted me to bring it up, probably that the website mentioned a rosary service, but I offered to bring her a rosary that I'd made. Little did I know...
Turns out that Mama had given her rosary to Simon, because they hadn't put one in his hands as they were supposed to do, so she needed a new one.
Today, I took the two that I had made--one amethyst and lapis, the other jade and mother of pearl--and made a gift of the pair of them. Angela says that the first will go to her sister-in-law and the second will go to her mother. I didn't ask for money, I didn't feel right about it, all I could do was just give her a hug and tell her that I hope it helped a little bit, especially since I'm sure they've probably heard just about all of the 'I'm sorry' they can take.
Her reaction to it just...I don't know, it made me feel like maybe I really did help out a little bit, and that...that brightens my day.
Posted by Liz at May 6, 2004 11:45 AMI think you really did help out a lot.
That was a nice thing to do.