New Puppy!

Alan, a new friend of mine living on the streets of the Village, came to Wednesday night supper last night without an official invitation. He remembered that we have Wednesday night supper around 5:30 pm every week and hoped he would be welcomed this week. When I saw him walk down the steps into Parker Hall my heart was almost as full as my belly.

I had just asked the youth to fix 5 to go plates with plans to have them ready, just in case Ron decided to come or for delivery, when Alan entered.

"Hello Alan!"

"Hi. Can I get a plate tonight?," he said rubbing his hands together for warmth.

"Sure you can. The youth were just fixing a plate for you. Come over to our table and they will bring it to you. So good to see you friend."

Alan fixed his tea, sat at the table, was served, met a few people, laughed a bit, talked a lot and then decided to attend the bell concert in the sanctuary. Well, not really wanting to leave him alone I escorted him to the concert and decided to sit for a bit before joining the youth.

About 5-minutes after taking our seats, he wrote me a note asking if I could help him get some hygiene products because he had lost his. We timidly exchanged a few words on paper, reverting back to the 3rd grade for a few minutes, and came up with a plan. I would put together a little toiletries package and leave it on my front porch for him to pick up a little later. He gave me a a big hug (we decided that note passing was too elementary, so exited into the hall to come up with a plan) and said, "If you every need anything, like your car fixed, let me know. I have two friends that are mechanics." Cool!

So I did a little grocery shopping, found some towels at home and made him the package like I promised. I placed it on the front steps and headed to Sonic to get me a nice cold rootbeer (it had been a long, hard and not so good day). When I got back I noticed the bag was gone and a stuffed dog was on my porch.

"What in the world are my roommates up to now?" I thought. Immediately went inside to consult them and learned that neither of them had anything to do with it.

"Alan!"