Leftovers

God can bless someone even with your leftovers...

In elementary school, I was taught that the Native Americans didn't waste anything. They used every part of the animals they hunted. That stuck with me. My grandma who was part Cherokee hated wasting food too. She'd throw scraps and leftovers out back into the yard. My uncles would fuss at her saying she's attracting raccoons and bears but she didn't care.

I still put my food waste in the woods behind my house. I just don't like to waste things. Or did that come from poverty? Not sure but I try to eat everything, especially the leftovers.

I asked God last night after I made Thanksgiving for at least 3 but only 1 person ate, Lord what am I going to do with all these leftovers? I sighed and guessed I'd just have to eat rotisserie chicken breast 3x a day till it's gone! Imagining chicken sammiches for lunch and dinner. And chicken and cheese omelets for breakfast though I knew I wasn't standing over no stove in the morning...

After feeling empty and unpurposed at the end of the workday, I mosied over to Trader Joe's. Let me finally get that bread, lettuce, and tomato for my chicken sammich! Cuz I make sammiches! My creations usually look like open-faced subs! I can't help it! Chunky, juicy, & LOADED! The cashier was a friendly, tall kid with dark hair and a black hoodie. He asked what I was doing for the evening and I told him my mind says get all this work done but my body says to make this chicken sammich and watch a movie! We laughed! Then I proceeded to tell him what the lettuce and tomatoes were for. He said I was making him hungry since he hadn't had lunch yet. I volunteered to make him one and he was surprised but accepted!

As I'm driving, I realized, I missed my son. I missed making sammiches and cooking for him. And maybe that's why I felt unpurposed that evening and I was going to get it out somehow. I made a monstrosity so thick, it wouldn't fit into a normal sandwich bag. So I had to saran wrap it. Packed it with a Cheerwine in a paper gift bag with a Honey Bee Thank You sticker on it and returned it to TJ's. I had a feeling he wouldn't be at the register anymore and surely he wasn't. Staff started looking for this kind, tall guy for me. It felt weird but at least the staff knows I'm not some old creeper. A woman walked up to me and asked if I was looking for her son. I explained our conversation and that I missed my son. I shared that I was grateful that the leftovers wouldn't go to waste. With almost tears in her eyes, she said she was so happy because he didn't eat properly. She was so excited and so grateful. It was COVID season, but we both wished we could hug. I can relate to stubborn sons, especially in a pandemic. I gave her the bag and went on my way.

My leftovers were an answered prayer for a worrying mom. Her prayers were my answer to an empty nest. All with just leftovers.

To learn more, pre-order my book, "Into the Soul of a Woman" to read the poem, "A Full So Empty."