Nashville Flashback

I remembered one more significant detail from our trip to Nashville. We stopped in at Shoney's again for breakfast. Lucky us, we just happened to get there right after two buses loaded with 300 teenagers stopped by. There was one booth (score!), but NO food. None. We had a great server, though. He would go to the back and grab yogurt and stuff for us while we waited 30 minutes or so for the swarming masses of teen angst and hormones to move away from the grits and biscuits.

After we finally got to eat, including Luke who had staged a no-Shoney's- food-protest two mornings previously, we got in line to pay and leave. (Fortunately, all the teenagers were on one bill. I was scared that we'd be there in time for dinner if we had to wait on all of them to pay. Who eats dinner at Shoney's, anyhow?)

I heard Luke ask Jason for some quarters. Jason asked him how many he needed. Luke told him he needed two. I looked around and saw the stuffed animal skill crane machine right behind us. 50 cents per play, it read. Figures! I said, "Luke, you don't need any more animals, come on..."

Luke didn't even look my way. He wiggled past me and did the most remarkable thing:

He put the quarters in one of those cardboard stand thingies that benefit research for the childhood leukemia and lymphoma society. I felt like such a heel!

Luke smiled up at me. Teary-eyed, I looked over at Jason. He was just as surprised as I was.

It feels good to see your kids want to do the right thing--especially when it was something I probably never considered doing myself.