A man works as a gardener for several months in an affluent neighborhood. He has a beautiful smile every time he comes to work for his new employer. And, this isn’t just the “Hi, how are you smile.” This is a man who is happy and gracious the entire time he works with her, planning and laying out her new back yard.
If his ideas are turned down, he’s not offended. If something has to be changed, he does it with ease and takes it in his stride. If the monsoons interrupt his work, he is grateful for it and takes pleasure in the rain, in spite of the fact that it means some of what he’s just accomplished will have to be done to the new yard twice.
A complex patio design was conceived for him to lay stone. It was heavy work that had to be done with great care. Still, he smiled and was a happy man. What made him so joyous?
The day came to buy the plants. He, his son, and the woman employer drove together to his brother-in-law’s plant nursery. Again, same happy face as his brother-in-law took them all around the nursery picking out the plants that she wanted in her yard. The four had a good time all day choosing and cherishing the beauty of the plants. Again, she thought about this man who had such an abundant joy.
The plants were loaded into the truck for the trip to her home. It was almost time to leave for home… In a last minute decision, she decided to ask the brother-in-law about her gardener/architect. This was his reply.
“Pete is a most unusual man. He not only loves his family, he lives and teaches them by the lessons he’s learned in life. And, he is so positive, isn’t he?”
Then he looked into the woman’s face and told her to ask Pete about his experience working as a cook. “Ask him to tell you the whole story. Say to him that I asked him to tell you.” It was an ominous request but she followed it to the letter.
Pete began his story… “Joy is everything in life to me. The joy of my family. The joy of my friends, and also you, my co-worker and employer. I want others to be as happy as I am. I tell you what,” he continued as he sat down on a tree stump (She sat down on the ground beside him.).
“When I worked as a cook in a restaurant, I learned something that I don’t want to forget. These people at this restaurant were bonded like family. They loved each other, not just the work. I mean they truly cared. ‘Amor y amigos.’ There was one young woman that work there as a waitress … she had such troubles… Her husband left her with three kids, she had only this job and was taking every single shift she could get to keep a roof over her head and these kids fed and clothed. One night she worked a table of ten, maybe twelve persons. These people wanted things that were not reasonable service. She gave them everything they asked for… and she smiled her way through this abusive treatment laid upon her in return. These customers were all about themselves. At the end of the evening the man who was at the head of this table tipped her seventy-five cents for a bill that included all of those meals. We were worried about her… we watched her accept it with a smile and then she came to the kitchen and began to cry.
Someone in their little family was hurting. So they stopped everything to comfort her. They felt that she should be lifted up after such treatment. And that night, when Pete went home he kept thinking about her beauty of character. “As we comforted her,” he said, “through her tears, she still smiled. She showed joy. I decided to be happy… to be like her. And, to honor that little waitress, I used her as my example to my children.”
The woman employer was fascinated by his story. She asked, “How did you honor her?”
Pete responded, “When we go out to eat, before the meal is over, I give each of my ten kids and my wife two one, dollar bills. I remind them of Lulu’s story and when the waitress presents me with the bill, I ask her to receive her tip from my family. I ask her to go around to each of my kids and my wife and then me, and we give her/him the money and each of us says thank you. And, I teach my kids to look into the eyes of the person as they do this… Let them see the thankfulness in your eyes as well as the money in your hand.
It never fails. Every time we do this, my kids learn all over again how important it is to be grateful and to value the people who serve them in all ways of life. The waiter (or waitress) becomes tearful with happiness. When I see the happiness, it makes me happy. And, this is the way I live. I chose to be happy.”
The woman knew what he meant. To be happy is a choice; it is not a destination.
~~~~~~
It is a beautiful story. A man who has made a commitment to use what he learned in such a positive way. So often a thing like this lasts for a short period of time… we are dedicated to making it our mantra. Then something more interesting comes up, or our lives become complicated; it is so easy to let that sincerely made commitment go by the wayside. We excuse ourselves from the table to address some other feast whose aroma attracts our attention. This is not so with Pete.
Everyone who knows him will say that Pete does actually live his mantra. He changed his life when he had but two children; he has continued to keep his word. I had the pleasure of meeting Pete Jr. and he also is a remarkable young man now in his thirties. He does the same humble work and artistry with his hands that his father does for a living. I am privileged to know them both.
May you also be blessed with the joy like Pete. Make his decision.
Best… Carolyn Thomas Temple