Yesterday, I Cried_ Celebrating the Lessons of Living and Loving - Iyanla Vanzant [19]
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you treat them you will treat yourself. As you think of them you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in them you will find yourself or lose your Self.
A Course in Miracles
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE’S IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, Rhonda’s house had a “front room.” It didn’t matter that the room was in the back of the house. The front room was the code name for where you kept the “good stuff.” Having a house or an apartment that was big enough to contain a room full of good stuff was a good thing. Rhonda remembers the forbidden front room being full of plastic-covered furniture, knick-knacks and whatnots, and the Christmas candy (which also served as the Easter candy, the Thanksgiving candy, and the Halloween candy). On this particular day, the front room was full of people.
Everyone that Rhonda had come to know as family, friends, or acquaintances from the neighborhood was in the front room. The mailman, milkman, and fish man were all there. It wasn’t so much that they were in the room; it was that they were eating in the front room! No one ever ate in the front room, particularly not the children. Rhonda had learned from experience that when you entered the front room you walked stiffly, keeping both hands at your sides, allowing only your eyes to move around. This was the only way to keep from breaking something. But on this day, people were sitting on the plastic-covered furniture, eating mounds of food from paper plates. Rhonda knew that this was not a normal kind of celebration.
The doorbell rang constantly, announcing groups of people bearing covered platters of food. The men all wore suits, and most of the ladies wore hats. Everyone wore black, except the church mothers, who were also there. Some of the children from Sunday school were there, too. The people, the food, the excitement, and the suspense of not knowing what was really going on were somewhat overwhelming. As little Rhonda moved through the room, listening and watching, everyone she passed reached down or over to pat her on the head, almost sympathetically. She didn’t know why they were patting her, and no one bothered to explain. Rhonda hoped that if she was gracious and smiled politely after each pat, she might be rewarded with a big piece of the big chocolate cake that was calling out to her from the kitchen. Unfortunately, between her and the cake stood Grandma. To Rhonda, Grandma always seemed larger than life. Today, she really was. Grandma was standing at the door, greeting a group of people who had just arrived. Grandma actually let the people hug her. Nobody ever hugged Grandma. Never! Except Rhonda’s brother, Ray. And Grandma was wearing her pearls. The pearls she only wore to church. Hugging, pearls, eating in the front room! This was serious. Very serious.
“Grandma?” Rhonda called out in her sweetest voice. She looked right past Grandma to the chocolate cake that was now winking at her from the kitchen table.
“Go sit down, and don’t get yourself dirty!” Grandma barked, before Rhonda could complete her question.
Rhonda knew by the tone of her voice that Grandma meant business. She also knew that Grandma wasn’t about to risk letting Rhonda get icing all over her new clothes. Grandma had dressed her in a brand-new dress and a brand-new slip, brand-new panties and socks, with ruffles, of course. One look at Grandma’s face, and Rhonda knew she had better turn on the heels of her new shoes before she got into trouble. Even though no one had told her so, Rhonda knew she had done really well so far that day. Before she could get back to the front room with all the grown-ups dressed in black and the plates of food, somebody yelled out, “The car is here!” Without warning, Rhonda was being buttoned into her good gray coat with the fur collar and the matching muff. Then she was whisked off, down four flights of stairs and onto the front steps of the building. There was a big black car waiting at the curb. Grandma, Rhonda, her brother, Ray, and Daddy got into the car. When the big black