So this kid, his name is Cody or Cory or something, he's stocking the cooler at like 11:47 PM (and I didn't even have to point out the 47 to her, she said it herself, can you believe that??
) and a guy walks in wearing a gray hoodie, hood UP even though it's September and still warm out, and he buys a bottle of water and one of those gas station tuna salad kits. Just the one. Cody said he counted out exact change from his pocket and there was something about the way he laid the coins on the counter, like he was making a little pattern of them before he slid them over.And Cody said the guy looked at him and smiled and said "you work hard, don't you" and Cody said "yes sir I try" and the guy said "that's good, that's real good" and then he just walked out and the door chimed and Cody said he felt this WARMTH in his chest like he'd been given something he didn't know he needed.
He didn't even realize it might've been Gabe until the next morning when he saw a billboard for some country singer and thought "that guy's face looks familiar" and then he Googled "guy in gray hoodie sighting" and found our forum.
And this is the part that gets me. Velma said Cody's been a different kid since that night. His grades were slipping, he was talking about dropping out, and now he's talking about community college, about learning a trade, about being somebody. One encounter. One smile. One "you work hard, don't you."
That's Gabriel. That's who he IS. He doesn't need a pulpit or a stage or a social media account - he just walks into a Shell station in Nebraska and changes a kid's whole life in thirty seconds.
You probably don't believe me, but it's TRUE. Call Velma yourself if you want. I'll get her number.
And the hoodie? Gray. GREY. Like the one in my 2003 cuff photo. I'm just saying. I don't usually point these things out but the evidence keeps piling up and nobody wants to look at it because they're too busy arguing about spreadsheet cells
