Lauren Gabriel drives through the town square, admiring the historic firehouse and the bank, and Betty’s Bakery, which was originally the feed store back in the early 1900s. Some of the storefronts are already decorated for Christmas, with simple lights, evergreen swags, fake snow, or a wintry scene depicted in a store window. She’s called Grandon home for a year, but by the way the townspeople adopted her as family, it feels as if all twenty-two years of her life have been spent here. Lauren stops at a red light and notices that a small group of people are decorating the three fir trees around the gazebo and the gazebo itself. The finishing touch seems to be a giant star on top of the gazebo. She cranes her neck to see it, realizing it wasn’t there last year. She remembers everything about this gazebo and the town square and the moment she realized she was home, for the first time in her life. The star is high enough and big enough for the entire town to see. A young woman around her age and an older woman point up at the star, giving direction to the man on the roof of the gazebo. On closer look, she realizes that her boyfriend, Travis, is that man on top of the gazebo; he’s hard at work with the Grandon Parks Department, and as Lauren pulls away from the light, she taps her horn, waving and yelling at him from the window.
* * *
Thirty-two-year-old Amy Denison tucks her blondish-brown bob behind her ears and cleans a smudge off her glasses as she looks at the sign on the door:
GLORY’S PLACE
A PLACE OF HELP AND HOPE
She opens it, stepping inside. The vestibule is filled with children, making their way to cubbies lined against the wall, in order to hang up their jackets and backpacks. Several adults greet them, leading them to games, to bookshelves lined with books, to tables where they begin homework, or to a doorway marked TUTORING. The place buzzes with activity and noise and Amy wonders if she is up for this, feeling inadequate. She had always assumed that she would have children of her own at this age but maybe this is as close as she will ever get.
“Are you Amy?”
An older woman with short salt-and-pepper curls is smiling at her. “I am. I’m here to see Gloria.”
The woman’s face lights up, and she moves toward Amy with open arms, hugging her. “That’s me! So nice to meet you! Come on in.” She leads her to a small office, pointing to a folding chair as she sits on one next to her. There’s nothing fancy about this office but somehow Gloria makes it feel homey. Maybe it’s her Southern accent or her warm smile, or maybe it’s her open face that would delight anyone who walks through these doors that makes Amy feel instantly welcome. “We got all the background checks that we needed and you’ll be happy to know that you are not wanted by the state or federal government.”
“That is good to know!” Amy says, chuckling.
“I know you talked in depth with Heddy when you came in a few weeks ago but I always like to chat with volunteers before they begin. What brought you to Glory’s Place?”
Amy lifts her shoulders. “I don’t know if I have a great answer for that, but I was at lunch one day thinking about what I would do that night, and what I would do that coming weekend, and I realized that my life pretty much revolves around myself. I’ve always liked children, I enjoy being with them, and the more I thought about my life the more I felt that I was supposed to be a foster parent. So I went through the training and all the paperwork. I’m just waiting for clearance with the state. I’m tired of the sameness of my life and thought that maybe you could use me here.” For some reason Amy feels like crying and looks down at her purse before any tears form.
“We sure can use you and all of the kids will enjoy getting to know you.” She glances down at her watch. “The van from Grandon Elementary will be here in just a couple of minutes and we can greet them together. You’ll find that the volunteers do everything here. They greet the children, they help with homework, they play games with them, read to them, prepare snacks, help tutor them in a subject they’re struggling with, help with the Christmas benefit, and clean the building. When I started this place many years ago with just a handful of friends we were doing the same things then that we are now.” She laughs. “If you were looking for something glamorous then you’ve come to the wrong place!”
“I gave up dreams of glamour a long time ago,” Amy says. She looks at Gloria, thinking. “Is the name on the door and your sign out front a misprint?”
Gloria shakes her head, smiling. “The kids call me Miss Glory. People have always called me Glory, with the exception of Miriam, who thinks Glory is a ridiculous name for a grown woman. You’ll meet Miriam. I’ll pray for you as you meet her. And you can call me whichever name is agreeable to you.”
Amy looks up as a young Hispanic-looking woman with long dark hair and skin sticks her head inside the office door. “Excuse me, Glory?” Gloria turns in her seat. “Besides Trevor, did you want me to work with anyone else on math right away?”
Gloria jumps up. “Oh, Lauren! Come say hi to Amy. This is her first day.”
Lauren steps forward to shake Amy’s hand. “Hi! Glad you’re here!”
Gloria puts her hand on Lauren’s shoulder. “Lauren came last year to help us with our fund-raiser and decided not to leave.” Lauren shrugs, smiling. “She moved to Grandon and became a florist at Clauson’s Supermarket, has a handsome beau at the parks department, and is like a big sister to a lot of the kids here.”
“Great to meet you,” Amy says.
“Just ask me if you need anything,” Lauren says.
Gloria claps her hands together, thinking. “Now! Besides Trevor, take Ally as well. I think those two will work well together without being distractions to each other. After them, could you take Derek and Logan? Their teachers have said they’re still not grasping division.”
“Got it!” Gloria and Amy can hear Lauren calling for the first two boys as she exits the office.
“Are you working today, Gloria? Or is your day going to be filled with tea and crumpets?”
Gloria shakes her head and, without looking, points her thumb over her shoulder. “That is Miriam.”
Amy shakes her hand. “I’m Amy. A new volunteer.”
“Oh, how wonderful,” Miriam says, looking her over. “What do you do, Amy?”
“I’m an insurance adjuster.”
Miriam scrunches up her face. “Oh my! That does sound terribly dull, doesn’t it?” Amy is taken off guard and laughs. Miriam’s English accent is so smooth and gentle that she can’t tell if her comment was meant to be insulting or not. “Are you married?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Children?”
Amy shakes her head. “No. But I love children. That’s why I’m here.”
“Where do you live?”
“In Cortland.”
Miriam raises her eyebrows. “That’s a thirty-minute drive! I wonder if you could have found any volunteer opportunities closer to your front door?”
Gloria steps forward, putting her hand on Amy’s back. “I forgot! I need to show you the big room!” She leans in, whispering, “I’m rescuing you from Miriam,” and leads her into the vestibule, pointing across the room filled with children. “We call this ‘the big room.’ Just go right across the big room and bring your purse and jacket through that door,” she says, pointing. “Just pick any empty locker and I’ll meet you right back here to greet the van.”
When she is out of earshot, Gloria turns back to Miriam and says, “I keep hoping that one day you will learn some tact, but it appears that as you are getting elderly and more infirm, you are losing tact altogether.”
Miriam looks shocked. “Whatever did I say?”
“You said her job was boring and you asked if she was married or had children!”
“I was getting to know her. My parents always called that being polite and inquisitive.”
Gloria sighs. “Her application reveals that she is not married and does not have any children. How do we know that’s not a wound for her?”
Miriam rolls her eyes. “Everything is a wound these days.”
“You’re my wound,” Gloria says, whispering.
“I heard that, Gloria,” Miriam hisses, heading toward the tutoring room.
Gloria waves when she sees Amy walking toward them, and heads to the front door so she’ll follow behind. “Now you’ve met Miriam! I’m sorry to say that she’ll never improve beyond what you saw today.”
Amy laughs. “I like her!”
Gloria nods her head. “Me too, but don’t tell her that!” At the sight of the van on the street, Gloria opens the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk. “Ten children come to us each day from the elementary school. The school has its own after-school program but our program lasts longer.”
“What time do parents pick up their kids here?” Amy asks, watching the van pull in to the driveway.
“The last of the children leave around seven thirty.”
“Wow! That’s a really long day for kids.”
Gloria nods, looking at her. “That’s why we try to give these kids structure and encouragement and love. We know that this is the closest thing to a home that many of these kids have right now.” She waves as the van pulls to a stop, opening the side door. “Here are my favorite kids!”
“You say that every day, Miss Glory,” a small boy with blond, messy hair says, jumping out onto the sidewalk.
“I speak the truth, Jace,” she says, tapping him on top of the head. “Say hello to Miss Denison. She’s new here.” Jace waves as he runs into the building. “Everybody say hello to Miss Denison when you get out of the van,” Gloria says, hugging the shoulders of each child as they step out. She reaches her hand inside the van and helps the final little girl out. “How are you today, Miss Madeleine Grace?” She turns to look at Amy. “Madeleine means ‘high tower’ and Grace means ‘God’s favor,’ and as you can see Miss Maddie is the perfect picture of a high tower of God’s favor!”
“I can see that!” Amy says, taking Gloria’s lead. “I love your glasses, Maddie.”
Maddie looks up at Amy. “I like your glasses too! I always wanted a pair of blue ones like that but mine are just brown.”
Amy bends over, adjusting the glasses on Maddie’s face. “Brown and very stylish.”
“You’re new here. I’ve never seen you before.”
Gloria closes the van door, turning to them. “Maddie! I just had the best idea! Miss Denison just arrived and I need to take her around and show her everything. Do you think you could do that for me?”
Maddie nods and lifts her backpack over her shoulder. “Sure! Just follow me.”
Amy follows her to a bank of cubbies, where Maddie hangs her jacket and backpack. “These are the cubbies where we keep our stuff. We aren’t allowed to put anything on the floor because it gets messy with so many kids.” Amy smiles at how grown-up Maddie sounds. Maddie hurries to a section of tables by the front windows. “This is where we can play games. We pick a game from here,” she says, pointing to shelves behind the tables. “And when we’re done with it, we have to put it away. Miss Glory says this is like our house and we have to keep it tidy.”
“Those are good rules,” Amy says, following after her.
“We can find a book here and use the beanbag chairs or sit at a table or just on the floor to read. I don’t like sitting on the floor.”
Amy noticed Maddie’s walk and assumes it is too hard to get up and down off the floor for her. “I don’t like the floor either. It’s too hard and it’s difficult to get up off it too.”
Maddie looks at her, surprised. “Really? Maybe it’s because you’re old.”
Amy throws her head back, giggling. “It probably is! Why don’t you like to sit on the floor?”
“Because a bug with long legs and wings crawled on my leg one day and he wouldn’t have done that if I was sitting on a beanbag chair.”
Amy leans over, whispering. “Does this place have a bug problem? Because I hate bugs!”
Maddie shakes her head and takes Amy by the hand, leading her across the room. “No. Dalton said he’s never been able to hear right since I screamed that day and he took care of the bug problem. That’s Dalton over there,” she says, pointing to an African-American man with gray hair, jumping rope with two girls. “That’s where we can be active. There are jump ropes and basketballs and other stuff that we can use. I don’t go to that side of the big room, except when Dalton makes me dance with him.” She leads Amy toward the door marked TUTORING.
“Don’t you like dancing with Dalton? He looks like he’d be a great dancer.”
“Dalton’s the best dancer and I’m the worst.”
Amy stops before Maddie opens the door to Tutoring. “I’m not a good dancer either but I have fun doing it.”
“You have fun because your legs are normal,” Maddie says, grinning.
Amy bends toward her. “There’s something wrong with your legs?”
“Just this one,” she says, tapping her right thigh. “Everybody knows it’s CP.” Amy doesn’t respond. “Cerebral palsy. I’ve had it since I was little. I don’t like it because it makes me walk funny and it’s the first thing people see.”
“It wasn’t the first thing I saw. I saw your beautiful face and glasses and your awesome smile and was struck by your amazing name! Madeleine Grace. So beautiful.”
The little girl twists the doorknob in front of her. “My parents don’t know me. A nurse named me that.”
Amy’s heart sinks as she follows her into the room.