Della

I love having lunch from the fresh food bar at my neighbourhood grocery store at one of the tables outside on a beautiful day . I love to sit outside and eat and watch people go in and out of the store "making their groceries." It's quite a social thing. I love to say hello to people I know and meeting new ones.

This week, one of the ladies who works there was on her lunch break, and asked if she could join at my table. it was a busy day and there were no empty seats. I was having a poke bowl and was she was having fried catfish, red beans and bread pudding. She sat down and

while we ate, we talked about how good her lunch was and the heat and humidity of New Orleans is in the summer.

She told me about her church service the night before and about our spiritual beliefs. I told her I was raised Baptist and switched to Pentecostal, the fire and brimstone kind, and how I was told I was told I was a sinner as a child and there was no hope for my soul because hell was the only place for me and the first time I head about purgatory was here in New Orleans when I went to a Catholic Church. She shared that we must learn from our sin and that purgatory is the purification of sins from our soul before we entered the gates of heaven. I told her that I try to learn from my experiences and to not repeat things the same way.

We talked about how being more positive of our views of the world changes our lives. She said God doesn't want us poor but wants us to prosper and be happy.

When she finished her food, she went back to work with a smile on her face . I finished my poke bowl and made my groceries also with a smile on why face!