I am still shaken by something which happened tonight as stopped by the Subway in Racine. As I stood at the cash register, waiting for my sub to be finished (the clerks pretty much don’t even have to ask me anymore what I want- if I say “the usual” they know exactly what to make for me) I saw the photograph of a young woman sitting on the counter, in front of a little container in which people could leave money. The face looked a bit familiar but I didn’t think much about it until I realized that right above the photo itself was a girl’s name and then the letters “RIP.” Underneath the photo, it said that the young woman was the daughter of the manager of this particular Subway – and had recently died quite unexpectedly . . . and the collection was being taken to help cover the costs of her burial.
I read still further and then realized that the reason she looked familiar was because she was one of the clerks who frequently worked at that Subway and had waited on me dozens of times- and in fact she was the very first of the clerks who managed to memorize my order. 6” honey oat, double pepper-crusted turkey lettuce tomato onion lite mayo. We would sometimes joke about it and I just loved her lively personality but also how fast and efficient she was even as she conversed with me and other customers. And on a recent occasion when Kathy and I ordered party subs for something happening at our house this summer (I can’t remember now what the occasion was) it was this young lady who patiently answered every question I had and couldn’t have been nicer. She was just fantastic – and now in retrospect, I am even more impressed – because I can imagine many scenarios where the daughter (or son) of the manager might be a lazy spoiled brat who would find ways not to pull their weight. . . but you could just tell that this young woman loved working there and was really really good at it.
However, I had not seen her there for perhaps a month, but hadn’t thought much about it because she seemed young enough to be in school – and I figured she had probably had to cut back her hours quite a bit.
But tonight I receive this shocking bit of news of her death, apparently due to some sort of condition which caused her heart to become enlarged. And this at the tender age of 15.
I turned to the clerk who was finishing up my sandwich and said as I pointed to the sign, “I can’t believe this.” And the clerk replied, “yeah, you were one of her favorite customers.” And at that point, I had to swallow hard because of the huge lump in my throat.
This was someone I knew – and yet didn’t know at all. For instance, in this little memorial sign it mentioned something about how she loved to sing. I didn’t know that! And until tonight, I had no idea that her mom was the manager of the place. All I really knew about her was that nobody was better at whipping up my sandwich than she was – and she did it with such a smile that made me always glad that I had stopped in.
And now she’s gone – and I am left with this bewildering sense of loss and grief over the death of a young woman whose name I didn’t even know until I read that sign tonight. And it makes me realize that there are all kinds of people in my life who I scarcely know and yet who are surprisingly important to me – who make a difference in my life and without whom life would be just a tad more empty. I’m sure that’s true for you- and I suspect that you, like me, tend to take such people very much for granted. But I am finding myself tonight profoundly aware of all the people “behind the counter” in my life and hoping that Kieana’s sudden and unexpected death will help me appreciate them. . . and especially those who manage through deed and attitude to brighten up their particular corner of the world. Lord knows we all need that right now.
pictured: the photo by the cash register at “my” Subway. The young lady typically wore her hair pulled back and in a pony tail and tucked under a hat – which is why I didn’t immediately recognize her in this photo. The first picture I took included her name, but that seemed like a violation of her privacy. But in the blog entry itself I do mention her first name – Kieana.