One Good Thing

Sometimes, things just come together in totally unexpected, yet joyful, ways.

For instance, I have a very good friend named Joyce. For fifteen years – quite possibly longer – she has worked in journalism. Oh, the stories she’s told me – and I’ve been involved in at least one of them. (That one involved meeting her for a brisk walk around the town square and ended with her running towards a young woman walking a zebra [named “Zippy,” by the way] through uptown, determined to “get the scoop.” Cross my heart, it happened.) We’ve traded lines from His Girl Friday and I’ve teased her about being a “spunky girl reporter.” But I’ve always admired her dogged determination to write well, seek out the truth, and meet her deadlines. I don’t think she keeps a cheap bottle of whiskey in her bottom desk drawer, as depicted in many movies, but she does enjoy a good cigar.

Well, Joyce got a promotion. Long overdue, I’d say. And, while she’ll still be writing, she also moved to the editor’s desk and is shepherding two young writers. One of those is situated in the South Carolina city of Greenville – and Greenville has an 18-year-old kid who patrols downtown in a Spider-Man costume spreading kindness and general goodwill. This past week, he actually rescued two people who had gotten themselves into a little bit of trouble on a man-made waterfall in the middle of downtown.

So yes, she got to wave a cigar around and yell, “Why hasn’t anyone gotten me pictures of Spider-Man?” in true J. Joyce Jameson fashion.

And that’s a Very Good Thing!