One night at Dennys

This morning I woke up really early for some reason, and I just started thinking about this random time I found a preacher that was missing at Denny's.

Background: This guy was the preacher of one of my friends. The church he had been preaching at was your typical Southern Baptist church. When I say typical I mean, most of the population are old people that are dead set in their ways. Pew sitters, I like to call them. Anyway, this preacher (which I actually used to never like) was trying to lets say.. buck the system in a way. In doing that, he basically was kicked out of his church, his wife left him, and he got into a horrible car accident. I mean all of this happened all in a very small amount of time. On top of that, he had mental issues. He was bipolar and would black out. In these black outs, you could typically find him walking around town by himself.

My husband and I had been drinking which we would occasionally do in our own home. I then received a phone call from said friend above, Roy. He said there had been a lot of drama at his home, and that his mom had been hit by a car. I told him that if he needed anything, just let me know.

He said, "Well, Brother (I'll call him brother for identity purposes) is missing. So, if you hear anything, let me know."  I figured I wouldn't hear anything because well Brother and I weren't close at all, like I mentioned before, I actually didn't really like him.

I then was pretty riled up and was feeling that weird munchy feeling you get when you get drunk. My husband was asleep, and seeing as Denny's is like the one place you can go sit down and eat where I lived that is 24hours, I figured that's where I would go. Don't worry, it was right down the road. Although now, it does make me mad that I even attempted it.

I got there, and I was seated across the restaurant from a man that looked really familiar. He looked so lost, confused, and miserable. Then it clicked. "Brother?" I immediately went over to his table, menu in hand, and sat down across from him. I asked him if he was okay, and he just started pouring out his soul to me. I am actually tearing up right now just thinking about it. He said he had been having an episode and just blacked out. He didn't remember Roy's mom being hit or any of it. Meanwhile, I had been texting my best friend because he was worried about me being out in my state. I told him that I had found Brother, and he came and met up with us. Then Roy came.

There we were, all sitting around a table. A drunk, a bipolar man, a best friend, and a friend that just wanted to help his preacher. I realized that night that we all have purpose. Even in our mistakes.

I don't know why, but I really was pondering that experience this morning. It hit me all over again.