Silver Platter Waitress

The brunette waitress walked up to the table, smiled as she looked at the people sitting there, and said, "One order of dreams come true?" 

I half-raised my hand, and she set the plate down in front of me. Nothing had ever been handed to me on a silver platter, but yet, somehow, someway, I've gotten everything I've ever wanted. 

I looked around and saw people being given empty plates. What was happening? Did people order nothing or did they not have what the guests wanted? 

I stared at the other customers for what was probably too long since the waitress looked at me strangely. "Is everything all right?" she asked. 

I snapped out of it. I smiled and made eye contact, "Yeah, everything is great. Thank you." 

The waitress walked away. 

I stared at my plate, which was very full. I wanted to give some of it away to others who had empty plates or had next to nothing. They deserved some of this happiness, too. But... they were smiling. They were having a good time even though life didn't give them the things they wanted. I knew happiness didn't depend on whether life gave you lemons or lemonade, because you can turn those lemons into lemonade. 

I looked at my glass of water and saw how it was half full, not half empty. I felt incredibly thankful. I noticed how the person I had come to the restaurant with had their glass completely full, practically overflowing. The other person with us had almost nothing in their glass. Even though it made sense for the full glass to pour into this one, I chose to lift my glass and give them some water. It was blazing hot outside. 

They smiled to show appreciation. I smiled back. 

While we weren't able to share what was on our plates, I was happy to be able to help them. Another person joined us who we had been waiting for to meet up with us, and their glass was almost full. I thought, "Why not top it off?" So I started pouring, but the water level never rose. It just kept taking and taking, but mine did go down. I quickly stopped. Why wasn't it working? Why did it just keep taking from me? I noticed how the water started turning black... What was happening? 

I later found out that their water had clear beads that turn black when someone's pure water was added. The light brought out the dark. I made a mental note to steer clear of them, and to never let them give me their poison. 

Their plate was also full, but it was full of fake food. They touched someone's food, and it immediately changed to burnt. They dimmed that person's dreams. They tarnished them. I made a mental note to protect my plate and my glass. I created a little bit of distance between me and the person. 

The waitress came over, and she asked if anyone wanted dessert. I said, "Yes" and the person who I was trying to avoid said, "Absolutely." I ordered one thing off of the dessert menu, and they ordered one of everything. What was the point? It seemed so wasteful. 

The waitress eventually brought everything out, and while I tried to eat as much as I could, the other person barely touched theirs, letting it go to waste. Quickly, I saw her talking to other guests that they had run out of dessert. This person ordered one of everything just to ruin it for others... I couldn't believe it. This is the type of people one can run into. They clearly wanted the silver platter moment, but even when their orders came in, the platter was plastic, not silver. They left and it felt like we could truly enjoy the rest of our time, and no one had to worry about them tarnishing their meals or poisoning their drinks. 

I felt thankful for these people, and for what was on my plate. 

When I got home, I felt content and thankful. 

~ ~ ~ 

Being in my twenties hasn't given me a lot of time to have a lot of letdowns in life. For some, it's plenty of time to be let down, sadly. I have been able to do and achieve basically everything I've wanted in my life. I was in drama club, on the tennis team, did community theater, was a part of youth group, got jobs when I needed them for the most part, got internships exactly when I needed them, had a great college experience, graduated from college, found my forever person who is perfect for me, had the wedding of my dreams, honeymoon, I love the place we live at, and we have a cute puppy. Plus much more. All of this with parents, siblings, grandparents, and a husband who has supported me throughout my life. I'm extremely thankful that life has essentially gone the way I wanted so far. I know I'm only in my twenties, but I'm very thankful. 

You know, people have told me with things like the wedding that not everything will go how you want them to. How can you say that for a fact? My wedding did go flawlessly. Every single thing mentioned involved me hoping and praying that it went well at some point or another and God came through for me. He made all of it happen. 

Now, it all hasn't been a walk in the park, either. I've had to deal with grief since I was 18. Every other year I lost a grandparent, and it was incredibly hard to go through all of these important things and have to deal with such losses, barely having time to breathe. The first one was Grandpa B who had passed away right before I graduated from high school. The other, Grandpa A, passed away right before I got a job, and I had to pretend I was fine. And the last one, Grandma A, passed away before I was even engaged, I believe it was close to Easter. The memorial service for this one (and the one before in this list) was right before I started my current job, and I had to act like I was okay, again (maybe I should stop getting new jobs). While people get to go through big things in life with all of their grandparents, I've had to notice less and less seats being filled. Less and less smiles. Less and less hugs. 

I'm incredibly thankful for my grandma ("Grandma B") who is the last of the four left. She was at my college graduation (and I saw Grandma A and Grandpa A right after, still in my cap and gown), my bridal shower, and my wedding. 

Before I was even engaged, I had a potential guest list written out (cause I loved hypothetically planning it just for fun). Grandma A and Grandma B were both on there. Within 48 hours of creating that list (it may have been later that day or the very next day), Grandma A passed away. The heartbreaking moment of deleting her name from the list shattered me. But, I had to get that moment over with, otherwise I'd never delete it. I was able to honor each of the three passed on grandparents at my wedding in a beautiful way, and honor Grandma B. 

So, it's easy to look at someone with this silver platter and think they have their life together and never have any issues. But, in reality, they can go through some really hard things, too. Just because they give their heart and kindness away like they're rich with it, it doesn't mean they don't need some love and support, too. 

I'm incredibly thankful for all that God has given me in my life, and I will continue to be grateful wherever He leads me. 

~ The Inspired One