Quik Trip Prayer Chapel

The parson and his faithful canine companion, Charlie Brown, were walking around the perimeter of the Quik Trip, America’s best convenience store and, in this case, combination truck stop. The parson was checking the tags of the semi-trucks to see if there were any he could add to his list. He kept a list of the state tags he observed in a quest to add every continental state to the list. Charlie Brown sniffed the tall grass along the path they walked to determine if any strangers had intruded into their territory.

Rounding the corner of the lot, the parson spied a driver sitting on a lawn chair, sipping coffee and munching on a sausage / cheese biscuit he’d purchased inside.

“Hello, Allen,” he greeted. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d retired from the road.”

Allen was a trucker from Minnesota the parson had come to know on his daily walk. Allen twisted in his chair to look over his left shoulder.  “Parson, how the hell are you?” He then twisted the opposite way. “Charlie Brown, you still hanging out with this old codger?”

Allen stood and shook the parson’s hand. “It’s really good to see you, Parson. Hold on a minute.” He jogged to the front of his rig and returned with another chair. “Sit a spell, Parson. Take a load off.”

The parson sat. Charlie Brown realizing the walk was interrupted ambled back. He walked over beside Allen’s chair and plopped his head on Allen’s thigh. Allen, having been trained by Charlie Brown a few years earlier, automatically began to scratch his head and gently pull his ears.

The parson looked toward Allen’s rig. He noted it was new. “So what’s going on? It’s been almost two years. You’re hauling again?”

“I am, “said Allen. “Things didn’t work out off the road. I thought it would, you know. That’s why I stopped. I thought the wife and I could get reacquainted and all. Turns out all the years on the road had separated us a lot. Look, Parson, we still love each other, but, well, I guess we just get crisscrossed being with each other 24/7 after all these years.”

The parson didn’t say anything. Allen had told the parson he was going to retire in order to be with his wife more. The parson was trying to imagine how this turn of events had impacted the man.

“Funny thing is,” Allen continued, “when I went back to the boss to see about driving again he actually hired me back at a higher rate. And I’ve got a regular route. He also lets me transport some fresh fruits from Florida for a homeless shelter back home. I volunteer there on Sunday afternoons. Plus, I’ve got this new rig which just purrs down the road. I wish you and Charlie could come ride sometime.”

“Allen,” the parson asked, “are you okay with this or are you putting on a good front for me?”

“Oh, hell no, I’m not okay with it, Parson. Look, I don’t know exactly when the wife and I became strangers. God knows I was planning to really do special things with her, but it just didn’t work out. I’m a little pissed about it. But, now Parson, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. My wife is a wonderful woman, a good Christian woman. It’s just … well; I don’t really know what it is. Do you think after all these years on the road I might have become too solitary?”

“You’d have to answer that, Allen.”

“Yea, I guess I would. Wish I knew where we got so far apart. Funny, I never realized before this that we had a weekend marriage.”

Allen stopped rubbing Charlie Brown’s head which prompted the dog to immediately place his big left paw on Allen’s knee, a reminder to continue. Allen continued. As he did he began to share with the parson some of the stops he had on his new route. There was excitement in his voice when he talked about stopping at an orchard to arrange for picking up fresh oranges during the season. After a while the tales of the new route played out.

“Parson,” Allen asked, “can I ask a favor of you?”

“Sure, Allen,” said the parson.

“Would you pray for me and the wife? Despite all this we do love each other.”

And for a few moments the back side of the truck parking at the Quik Trip became a chapel with folding lawn chairs for pews with three congregants bowed in prayer.

Photo from www.city-data.com

Comments

[MMP]

:)