AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The diner will provide a hot breakfast in the recreation room,” Ivy said. “Eggs, sausages, pancakes and whatever else you want to go with the pastries. Indigo will be your go to person.”
“Addie and I will do free haircuts for those in need,” Heather added. “I know many of our veterans and housing insecure will come looking for services. I’ll take care of that aspect with Cameron and have it ready to go along with personal hygiene grab bags for them.”
“I love it,” Mrs. Violet said as she wrote.
“What about entertainment?” Ivy asked. “Maybe we should have a family movie playing for the kids who come out to the event?”
“Great idea,” I said. “We can project it on a sheet near the fire pits so they can stay warm. Of course, we’ll have the recreation room open and the facilities available for people to use.”
“I’ll ask Shep to have the city crew bring the fire pits over from the park with their truck. They can pick them back up before the tree lighting,” Ivy said, making notes in her phone.
“That would solve a huge problem for us. Thank you,” I said, squeezing Ivy’s shoulder.
Heather raised her finger. “Did the new construction remove the roll in showers on each end of the building?”
“Not all of them,” Irving answered. “We kept one on each floor since they had just been updated before they closed the nursing home. In the back of my mind, I wanted it there for use by tenants who didn’t have an accessible bathroom in their apartment. I know that we can’t make all the apartments accessible, that’s logical. In my mind, if it’s a matter of not being able to house someone because we don’t have a room with a shower they can use, or asking them if they agree to use the shower at the end of the hall, it’s a no brainer to me. As someone who has struggled to find accessible housing my entire life, I’d readily agree to showering outside of my apartment if it meant I had a place to lay my head at night.”
Mrs. Violet smacked her pen down on the pad. “I’m sorry, but it just makes me so angry that this is still a problem in this day and age.” She picked her pen up again and muttered under her breath as everyone around the table bit back smiles. Mrs. Violet got a bad rap for being a busybody but the reality was, she was just a wonderful person who didn’t like to see injustice in the world.
“The reason I asked,” Heather said, to bring it back around to her question, “is if I’m doing haircuts, a lot of these people would also need a shower and a place to wash up.”
“I’m on it,” I said without a thought. “I’ll make sure the one on the main floor is clean, stocked and ready to go.”
“We still have the salon room,” Irving said. “That was another room I wanted to keep. There’s only one chair, a sink, and a small countertop, but would that be helpful?”
Heather clapped her hands with excitement. “Yes! I’m so glad it’s still there! Addie and I will bring our supplies over on Friday and prepare it. You don’t have to worry about a thing other than checking the water lines and ensuring the sink works.”
“You got it,” I said, making notes on my phone. “I can’t tell you how much this has helped us,” I said, smiling at Irving. “We expected to stop in for pie and maybe round up a few volunteers, and in ten minutes, we’ve got the whole event planned. This would have taken Irving and I days to work out, make calls, and arrange volunteers.”
“This is what we do,” Mrs. Violet said as all the heads around the table nodded. “We use our skills to help others in our community. The young folks would say, what? Okay, boomer?”
Becca laughed as she took a drink of her water. “Some might, but it’s our job to teach the next generation how to build a community. I’m learning from you, Mrs. Violet, and I hope I can one day teach my little one what you’ve taught me.”
Mrs. Violet brushed a tear off her cheek. “That’s so sweet,” she said, her hand to her heart. “I’m glad others think the work I do is worthwhile. I know people are always rolling their eyes at me, but I keep on hoping my contributions make a little difference to someone somewhere.”
“I think it’s safe to say that your contributions have made more than a little difference over the years,” Ivy said as she set a plate in front of Irving and then one for me. “Your contributions are what keep half of these events alive. You work harder than anyone knows and do it for nothing but love.”
“That’s right,” Mrs. Violet said, straightening her spine as she picked up her pen. “I do it for love. Love for this community, even if the young kids think that’s lame or suss.”
Becca chuckled again and shook her head. “No one thinks you’re lame or suss, but we do think you love teaching, and that’s why you do what you do.”
“Exactly,” she said, her hair bobbing with her nod. “What else do we need?”
“More volunteers,” Irving said around the bite of the burger in his mouth. When he swallowed, he moaned a little. “Thanks, Ivy, I’m starving.”
Ivy patted his back and motioned at the plate. “Eat up. As for volunteers, since Indigo can handle the food obligations, I’ll be in charge of the volunteers. I’ll get together with you in the next few days, Hazel, and we’ll make a list of how many we’ll need and where we’ll need them?”
I nodded as Indigo spoke up. “I’ll talk to Lance about the breakfast buffet. See if he has some students who are advanced enough to work it with him. Maybe even do a made-to-order omelet bar?”
“That would be great practice for the kids in Lance’s program,” Ivy agreed. “Let us know what he says.”
“Seriously, guys,” I said with a shake of my head so I didn’t start crying. ‘I can’t thank all of you enough.”
“Not to worry,” Heather said as I dug into my burger. “The rest of the girl gang will be helping as well, and if you need literal manpower, we have that too. Gabe will be there, and hopefully, some of the firefighters will also come to talk with the kids about holiday fire safety.”
Everyone started tossing ideas back and forth while Irving and I finished our food. I couldn’t stop myself from meeting his gaze and offering a smile. He returned it as he wiped his lips. Lips I had never wanted to kiss more. Instead, I settled for a shoulder squeeze that said,we’ve got this.
∞∞∞
