The Need For Joy

There is a wonderful story that has blown up Twitter and other social media, along with the more traditional news outlets.

Deshaun Watson is the rookie starting quarterback for the Houston Texans. He’s having a fairly typical season so far, maybe better than typical. But here is what impressed me.

There are three arena cafeteria workers who feed the players and fans on a daily basis and on game day. Like most blue collar folks, they work quietly in long and hard hours to serve others, mostly without recognition other than, perhaps, a thank you when one picks up a meal. Unknown by most, but evidently known to Watson. He must have recognized their smiles, their friendliness, their presence and mostly, their quiet service.

During Hurricane Harvey, these three cafeteria workers lost most of what they owned and their houses were ruined. Like many Americans during times of tragedy, their lives were changed, altered.

Life doesn’t play favorites. Life can be cruel and sometimes, hurtful.

So in steps Deshaun Watson, the rookie quarterback. He takes his first game check and splits it up among the three cafeteria workers in an effort to help ease their pain. I don’t know what he earns for a season. I don’t know what he earns for each game. But whatever it was, he wanted to give it to these three ladies in hopes of easing the unfairness Harvey unleashed on them. He hoped to ease the pain, the cruelty of how life turned on them.

The reaction of the three was interesting. One smiled and wept. Another was off camera and I didn’t see a clear shot of her reaction. The third stood stunned by the gesture.

What was touching was that this rising star smiled and spoke kindly to each of them. He treated them as one would someone’s mom. He reached out to three workers who toil and serve, who work without fanfare or the recognition someone like he receives. Watson recognized that there is a Need For Joy in this life. Not just for these three nameless workers, but really, for all of us.

Watson’s gesture wasn’t necessarily super huge, although it certainly could have been. I’m sure to those three cafeteria workers, it was like winning the lottery. He cared about someone other than himself. He raised up and brought Joy back to these three.

There is a Need For Joy.

For all of us. Each of us. Each day. Every day.  

I read something that floated by on Twitter and while I can’t remember the exact quote, paraphrasing as best I can it went like this: Joy comes to us when we are grateful for all we have.

I would like to amend that statement to: Joy comes to us when we are grateful for all we have and share it with others.

When I watched Watson present those checks to those three workers, it brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. It was selfless. It was humbling. It was love. And while I didn’t receive any money from him, I shared in the joy he made and the joy he gave and it brought me joy hundreds of miles away. It made life a little easier for those three women and their families, and it made life a little more joyful for all of us. Something we might do for one another, don’t you think? Bring Joy to someone? Anyone? Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I finished my fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction, Caught in a Web and I’ll keep you posted as to when it will be published. While we wait, I am busy having fun with my sixth, Spiral Into Darkness, and I’m nearing the end and in the middle of the climax. I’ve completed more than 78,000+ words and 315 pages into it.

Please feel free to connect with me at:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author                                 

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI/                           

If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction, check out my novels:

Available on Amazon for .99 the Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:

FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis         

Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:

Two thirteen year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis        

Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:

A 14 year old boy stands in the kitchen pointing a gun at his uncle. There are many reasons for him to pull the trigger. Mainly, he had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis        

Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:

A 14 year old boy is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis