Lending a Helping Hand

As we entered the diner, a small round of applause filled the place, almost everybody was looking at me. The only person I recognized was Jimmy from the VFW. He was a loner who barely talked to anyone. The other vets said he brought a lot of emotional baggage home with him when he returned from Syria. But surprisingly, he was the first person to come up to me. He put his hand out and we shook hands. I was so confused.

"You're Dani, right?"

"Ya..." Still sounding confused.

"Some of us here want to say thank you." The gratitude was evident in his voice.

"For what, Jimmy?" I questioned.

"We all saw the video from last night... You kicked Randy's ass," he grinned.

Jimmy looked at Candy, then back at me. "I don't know if you realized it, but Randy was quite the bully, especially when he was drunk. A lot of us here had many, let's say, painful run-ins with him at some point... He got what he deserved... Thanks again."

Candy and I looked at each other, then back at Jimmy. I can't say that I'm surprised that Randy was a bully. I bet Candy wasn't either.

"Yeah...he was always causing trouble," Jimmy continued. "And now, it looks like he's going to spend a lot of time in jail, and we're all pretty happy about it." Jimmy's broad smile was full of appreciation.

The next words out of Jimmy's mouth changed my life forever.

"I'd be honored if you would let me buy you and your family some breakfast."

...Me and my family...? Is that how he sees us...? A family? I looked around the room and noticed everyone had the same appreciative look on their faces.

Everyone accepted me for who I was. Everyone accepted us as a family.

I couldn't tell my parents that I was gay. I couldn't tell anyone in the military that I was gay. I always felt like an outsider.

I looked over to the three smiling faces that walked in with me. Now I saw us the same way Jimmy did. We're a family. I was struck with this strange realization as an existential thought ran through my head... is this why I was put on this earth?

I thought about it. If I hadn't decided to come back home. If I hadn't decided to walk into her salon. If I hadn't given her my number. If I hadn't been there for Candy and her kids last night. Who knows what would have happened to them. Randy could have hurt them... or... or worse... I didn't want to think about it.

All of a sudden, a calm, loving warmth washed over me that I can't even describe. My heart overflowed with love. I finally understood the meaning of, 'my cup runneth over.'

Life just seemed to make sense all of a sudden. All the things that happened in my life had a clear purpose. I was so overwhelmed, chills ran up and down my spine. It took everything I had not to tear up. I couldn't speak.

Candy said thank you to Jimmy, then turned and guided us to a booth. We all sat down. My eyes scanned the beautiful faces around me. A tear finally broke from my glossy eyes.

From that moment on, I saw life through a different lens. I just knew, deep down, that Candy would eventually be my wife. That her kids would be calling my house home. It's like the universe had a plan for this tall, somewhat masculine, misfit lesbain, after all. And for the first time, everything clicked-like I finally found my place in the world's crazy puzzle.

The End.