TALKIN' T-SHIRTS

Well, It's Monday and I wasn't all that excited about my appointment with the dermatologist. I like her. She's thorough and catches stuff that should get caught. But still, today's one of those perfect summer days in New England and I didn't want to waste any of it sitting in a doctor's office.

But I went and, wouldn't you know it, God showed up with a massive dose of JOY. And, a reminder that sometimes the best sermons don't show up on Sundays. Or come from a specific verse in the Bible. Some come on T-shirts. LIke the one on the old man, my age, waiting for his wife to finish her appointment. It read: Grateful Dude. I took one look and said, "I like that." He grinned like he thought maybe I was talking about him. Later, I made sure he knew it was all about what he was wearing.

And then there was the receptionist. She wore a T- shirt that said, "Kindness is free. Scatter that stuff everywhere." Well, it was feeling a lot like Sunday and less like Monday. Sacred stuff happening in the skin doctor's waiting room. Life's full of some good surprises, if you pay attention.

Well, normally, I do like most folks do when they enter a waiting room. I pick up an old magazine and hope it's not carrying germs, or take out my phone and see if I have any friends left. Nobody talks. Some pray, I'm sure. But this time I decided to sit near the "grateful dude." I needed to clarify my earlier comments, so said, "I like that shirt. Gratitude matters." He then began talking and I started listening to one who could have his own show. He was either that funny or I was that desperate for a laugh. Probably some of each.

Over the twenty minutes while he waited for his wife to finish her appointment, and I waited for them to call my name, I learned and laughed a lot. I learned his wife gave him the shirt, which said something about him and them. And that June 2nd marked their 62nd wedding anniversary. I said, "Well, congratulations. I turned 85 on June 2nd." He said, "I'll be 85 come December."

He was a local, as was his wife. I love Gloucester, the place and the people. Since only one chair separated us, he leaned over and showed me his arm. It looked old, wrinkled and freckled like mine. I was a little afraid he was going to tell me some story about skin cancer. But instead, he asked me, "Did you ever read The Velveteen Rabbit?" I said that I had and he said, "Well, I used to have hairy arms. My wife loved the fur off of me over 62 years, just like that rabbit." We both laughed and the receptionist looked up like something strange was going on in that waiting room. Laughter!

There were three other people, sprinkled around a vast area, but nobody else was talking. He went on to tell me his wife was a cheerleader in high school and Miss Cape Ann way back when. Then he added, "I took one look at her and said,' Yum!'" (Obviously, a man of few words back then.) And then his wife came out and proceeded to check out, while we kept talking.

Then he told me how they went on a cruise one time. And, at one of the ports, she went with a bunch of folks on a hike up a mountain. He said, "I didn't go but I was nervous. Her last name before she married me was Moses. And I didn't want her coming down off that mountain with a few more commandments just for me." Well, he had an audience and I am not a quiet laugher. They could've heard me down the hall! Finally, one of the silent listeners said to the man's wife, "Have you heard that one before?" She laughed, then rolled her eyes. But they twinkled.

And all this happening while I'm waiting to see the doctor. Waiting is hard but it can be good. And I thanked them both for a great start to my Monday. And I wished them well on this beautiful day. Then he said, "Like an old friend up in Maine said to me, 'T'day's so beautiful. Yes'tday's jealous!"

And I thought, " All this good stuff happened because one man let anyone paying attention know that he was a Grateful Dude. And conveyed the notion, once complemented on his shirt, that life was too short to ignore another human being." So we talked.

And I left thinking, " I need to get me a shirt that talks!"