The Blessings We Carry

“You need to leave soon,” Emma reminded him.

Gabriel set down his coffee. “Yes, yes. You keep reminding me.”

“Well?” He could feel her eyes on him.

“Let’s donate twenty pounds of sweet potatoes, instead,” Gabriel suggested.

“We have already donated fifty pounds of sweet potatoes,” she countered

“Fine. We can donate a couple of turkeys.” Gabriel upped the ante.

“We have already donated five turkeys. The inn needs to do these kinds of community outreach events. It’s not just about donations. It is about giving yourself. I can’t do it this year. You need to represent the inn.”

This negotiation started six days ago. Emma discovered all of her siblings would be home for Thanksgiving for the first time in five years. Going home was non-negotiable.

“I was going to upgrade the inn’s range this week,” He knew he was losing.

“It can wait. What we have works fine. It has seen us through scores of holidays. I would expect a wizard to be more comfortable with the traditional,” She pointed at her watch again.

“I still need to keep the inn competitive. Besides. I like to upgrade, sometimes.” She stared at him. “Fine. Fine. I’ve got you covered.”

Gabriel took his coffee mug to the sink, cleaned it, and set it in its spot.

“I’m leaving.” Gabriel owned the inn, was a wizard, and somehow, she seemed to win more arguments than she lost.

“Say hi to Briar for me. See you when I get back,” she called as he was leaving the kitchen.

The thirty-minute commute to the food pantry left him alone with his thoughts. Emma had been at the inn for five years and had been his general manager for four of them. She made certain the inn was “a part of the community”.

Gabriel one hundred percent agreed with the sentiment. He was happy she took the initiative with community outreach. She was always trying to get him to get personally involved. Maybe this whole “needing to go home for family”, was a diabolical plot to get him to do this.

The food kitchen wasn’t much to look at, just a utilitarian strip-mall building that had gone out of style in the 1950s.

He paused after entering through the back door. He was in the kitchen. It was clean and well-equipped. The appliances were several decades old. About half a dozen people were in the kitchen performing prep work for a meal.

“Can I help you?” A woman called out from an office to the right of the entrance.

“I am Gabriel….” He started.

“Yes! Emma told me you’d be coming. It’s a shame she couldn’t make it, but it’s wonderful to finally meet you. I’m Faith.” She reached out her hand.

“I’m going to team you up with Briar. Briar is a favorite around here. He is getting a bit on in years, though. Sometimes he could use a partner.”

Faith rose from her desk and led him through the kitchen. They had traditional Christmas music playing through the speaker system.

“We’ll serve Thanksgiving dinner here, and we’ll also send out Meals on Wheels. Briar has done the Meals on Wheels for many years, but he really can’t drive himself anymore. I will introduce you.”

The food pantry had a concrete floor, simple faux stucco paneling, and mismatched shelving that you would find in a garage. The shelves had plenty of open space. The majority of the food was processed, like canned soup, meals in a box, and random items like instant potatoes.

There was a small selection of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, apples, pineapples, and assorted other fresh fruits and vegetables.

An older gentleman in a red flannel shirt was stacking bread on a shelf. He was humming a tune that Gabriel couldn’t quite make out.

“Hey, Briar. I have some help for you.” Faith said as we approached.

The old man turned to Faith. “Well, hello, darlin’. You found me another victim, huh?”

“Yes, dear. You be kind to Gabriel. Emma sent him to help out over Thanksgiving. I thought he could help you stock the shelves. On Thanksgiving, I want to pair him up with you to deliver dinners.”

Briar turned to Gabriel. “Good morning, young man. Blessings be upon you for helping. I’ve been giving some deep thought to our delivery on Thursday. I think we need to rename our food delivery to “Gobble ‘n’ Go” or “Feast Fetchers”. We need to set ourselves apart from You-ber Eats and Dora Dash! I’m fortunate. I don’t need those services. I have a bicycle that gets me to the grocery store.“

Briar ended his food delivery monologue by pointing at an old Schwinn bicycle. It leaned against the pantry wall, with fading red paint, and two mismatched wire baskets on the back, held together by optimism and duct tape.

“Where are my manners?” Briar held out his hand. “It is good to meet you, Gabriel.”

Gabriel took the old man’s hand. It was rough and strong. He pictured the old man going home and juggling gravel.

“Well. I will leave you to it. You take good care of him, Briar.” Faith turned and left the pantry.

“Just us men now.” He gave Gabriel a wink.

“Come on, Gabriel. I’m done with the bread. Let’s go get something else to stock up.”

Briar led Gabriel to a back room. There were carts with various foodstuffs. Briar grabbed the handle of one of the carts and started tugging at it.

“I can get that,” Gabriel said, reaching for the cart.

Briar made a little slapping motion. “I’m old, not helpless. You grab that cart over there.” He was pointing at a nearby cart.

He grabbed the indicated cart and followed Briar back to the front. Gabriel was pretty certain that Briar would talk to anyone or anything within earshot.

Briar didn’t just talk to hear himself. He seemed to have a gift for drawing information from people. He would listen closely to Gabriel. It was as if Gabriel were sharing the nuclear codes with him. He took in everything said to him. He wished he were as diligent when listening to others. He knew he wasn’t always the best at that.

“So, what is it that you do, young man?”

“I own and run the Vagabond Moose Inn.”

“Ah. That is a beautiful place. I know of your inn. You are very blessed. It’s not so different from what I do. Each day, I get the opportunity to make other people’s lives a bit better. I serve people who are in need of food and comfort. I see myself as bringing blessings into other people’s lives.” Each word was said with an excitement that somehow belied his age.

Gabriel contemplated what the old man had said. At first, he dismissed it. He generally thought in terms of transactions. His guests gave him money, and he gave them the best experience that he was able. He provided nice rooms, good food, and other support during their stay.

A simple change in thinking could make all the difference. Instead of thinking of the obligation to provide service as part of the transaction, he could lean into serving the guest for the joy of it. What they did really wasn’t that different. At least it didn’t have to be.

The hours sped by in seeming minutes. They had stocked the pantry and the space next door that held the clothes and home goods.

“Do you want me to throw your bike into the back of my Bronco? I can take you home.” Gabriel offered.

“Goodness no. But thanks. On my ride home, there are some neighborhood dogs and cats that I get to see. They seem to look forward to my visits. Sometimes they are hurt. I will see you on Thanksgiving, then we can do the Cranberry Cab.” He looked at Gabriel expectantly.

“I think I prefer Gobble ‘n’ Go”

Briar laughed. “Me too. See you then.”

Gabriel smiled almost the entire way back to Dandridge. Given thirty minutes, Briar could get the Devil himself to change his way of thinking. He had been dreading this day from the time that Emma had asked him to do it. Now he found himself looking forward to driving the old man around for his Cranberry Cab, Dora Dash, Gobble ‘n’ Go, or whatever it was.

On Thanksgiving morning, Gabriel entered the inn’s kitchen. Three people were preparing for the inn’s Thanksgiving dinner. The inn’s menu was simple by design; comfort food meant to feel like home.

“I have to fill in for Emma at the pantry’s Thanksgiving dinner today. Is there anything you need from me before I go?” He asked as he grabbed a cup of coffee.

“No. We are all set. If something comes up, I will call you.” He never looked up from his work.

“Sounds good.” Gabriel left through the back door.

The thirty-minute drive to the soup kitchen was uneventful. Gabriel found himself considering new names for Meals on Wheels to compete with Briar’s. The workers’ parking lot was full. Gabriel entered the back door. The kitchen was a flurry of activity. The final preparation was being completed in the serving area. Faith directing traffic.

Faith motioned him over. “Just in the nick of time. We are finishing up the Meals on Wheels orders. The delivery van will be loaded shortly. Here are the keys. Briar is out there loading the van. He will tell you what to do.”

Gabriel looked at his watch. The kitchen would open in ten minutes. He could see that there was quite a line out front.

Briar was just putting the last of the dinners into a white panel van.

“Hi, Briar. You didn’t leave without me?”

“You are an irreplaceable component of the Stuffing Shuttle.” Briar was in good spirits. Which was 100% of the time, as near as Gabriel could tell.

“I thought it was Gobble ‘n’ Go?”

“That’s yesterday’s news.” He said, laughing.

Gabriel and Briar got in and shut their doors. It was late fall in Tennessee. The trees were nearly bereft of leaves. Yesterday it was in the sixties, today it was the forties. You just never know.

“Most of the folk we will be visiting are older folk who can’t get around too well anymore. With our Thanksgiving meal, we have a few exceptions. Folk that just happen to be going through a difficult time at the moment. “

The routine for each home was the same and different. Briar was responsible for greeting the people at the door. Gabriel would grab the insulated delivery bags from the van. Many would ask that the meal be left at the door. In most cases, Briar simply accepted their wishes. With others, Briar would chat his way inside the house. When inside, he would somehow get them to tell him how they were really doing. He had a knack for knowing when somebody needed a bit more from him. In the end, there was always appreciation and promises from Briar that he would be back in a few days to check on them.

After one of the visits, Gabriel asked him about how he knew when someone needed more attention. He waved him off.

“Ahh. I have lived in these parts for a long time. Many of these folks have been my neighbors for decades.”

“This next stop isn’t one of our typical stops. This is a young mother who is struggling. Grab the goods. I will get the door.”

A young mother met them at the door. She greeted Briar like a lifeline and immediately began talking. She was trying to fit three hours of conversation into three minutes. She quickly ushered them into the house. Three children were in the living room. They were playing hide and go seek. It couldn’t be easy to hide in this small apartment. The entire apartment could be searched in twenty seconds.

“This has been such a hard year. I divorced my husband. It has been so much harder than I thought. Course, I didn’t have kids before I married him. But you know, marriage is no picnic. My husband never bought me gifts. He didn’t help ‘round the house. He always said, ‘Well, I work all day and bring home the money to pay the bills.’Sure, I didn’t work after we had all of our kids, but I worked until we had our second. We would argue about things. Funny. I don’t even remember what now. “

She sighed. “I will be takin’ the kids over to his place after.This is the first Thanksgiving we haven’t been together in ten years. “

She started to cry.

Briar reached out to give her a hug. She cried into Briar’s chest. Briar spoke quietly to her. “It’s hard. I remember each day to be grateful for my blessings. I think of those each day. You are blessed with three little ones who are playing in the living room. Think about all of the joy they bring. That is what makes life wonderful.”

Gabriel had no idea how Briar always knew what people needed, but he felt humbled watching it.

They left her a bit better than when they’d arrived. After returning to the van, Briar looked back towards the door to the apartment.

“So many would be happier by counting their blessings rather than their daily troubles. Counting troubles rarely leads you to a happy place.”

He looked at Gabriel.“We have one last stop, partner.”

“This isn’t what I expected,” Gabriel noted with some surprise. The home was easily four thousand square feet. A Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Sedan sat in the driveway.

Briar said with uncharacteristic sadness. “I’ve helped Samuel through the years. He has a nice garden and would ask me for help. I still help him when I can.” Gabriel sensed he didn’t mean with gardening.

Samuel opened the door when Briar knocked. “Well, hello there, Briar. It is good to see you.” He stepped back and motioned for the two of them to enter.

“Samuel. This is Gabriel, my young partner. Gabriel. This is Samuel.”

After the brief pleasantries, he led them to the dining room. He motioned to place the food on the table.

There were photos on the wall of a young man and a young woman. They appeared to be graduation photos.

“How have you been, Sam?”

“Well. You know. Charlotte passed a few years ago, and the kids rarely come back to visit. They have busy lives. One is a successful lawyer and the other an engineer. They don’t get away from work too much. They are a chip off the old block, you could say.”

“Christmas is near. Maybe they will make it home.” Briar said gently.

“No. Maybe next year. Besides, you know I am always busy with my business, especially around Christmas. “ Sam sighed. He looked at a large family photo hanging on the wall. “Lately, I wish I had taken a break around holidays, especially Christmas.”

“You should visit them, Sam. You have the means to visit anytime,” Briar suggested.

“Small investments compound over time,” Samuel said softly. “I invested in my business.”

“Hey, Briar. I have a cardinal on my back porch that hit the window. You seem good with these things. Can you see if he may be able to make it?”

Gabriel watched Briar go to the back deck. Sure enough, there was a bird that surely had a broken wing. He was a goner.

Briar knelt down. Strangely, the bird struggled to reach him. Briar gently picked it up, bent his head, and seemed to speak to the cardinal. Briar stood up and gently tossed the bird into the air. Gabriel was a bit shocked when it flew off. Gabriel looked at Briar with new eyes. How long had this man been hiding right under his nose?

“It’s always amazing watching you.” Sam was shaking his head, mystified.

“Yes. You are quite remarkable, Briar,” Gabriel added.

“We have to go, Sam. I will be certain to stop by again”.With that, Briar headed to the door.

They left Sam’s. They drove in silence for a while. Finally, Briar suggested. “We can get some dinners and eat them at my place.”

“That would be great.”Gabriel was more curious than ever.

With their job done, they took two meals from the kitchen, Gabriel loaded Briar’s Schwinn into his Bronco, and made their way to Briar’s.

It was dark when they arrived at Briar’s. It was a simple home, like something built by settlers a couple of centuries ago, but immaculately maintained.

The inside matched the outside. There was a fireplace in the living room. Some family photos sat prominently on the mantle. The kitchen was simple. A wood stove was present rather than a modern electric or gas range.

Gabriel set the meal on the table. “It looks like you have a nice family.”

“Yes. They are amazing. They are my life. They visit when they can. They know that on Thanksgiving, working in the community kitchen is important to me. My wife was the one who started that, ya know. When she passed, the memories I shared with her made me have to continue.” He barely paused, “You saw me.”

“Yes. I saw you. You’re good. You’re careful. But you couldn’t hide that from me.”

“I know you are a powerful wizard. I have lived a simple life. I knew you would see. But I had to save the cardinal. Now what?”

“Your life seems to revolve around healing… of all kinds. I will hold your secret. But sometimes fate chooses a course for us. This has been a remarkable day. Thank you, Briar.”

Briar nodded. “Thank you, wizard.”