Slow down for just a minute, life...

Hey. Hope all is well with everyone out there. I am doing pretty well these days. Still at J's. Still teaching color guard at Page 2 days a week. Still at Two Rivers. Still struggling to be who God has called me to be everyday to everybody in every situation.
Today, I worked 12.5 hours in the restaurant, and let's just say we were slow enough that the monetary benefits were not great. However, I got to experience something wonderful today. One of my tables during the lunch shift was a couple with 2 small, special needs children and 2 older gentlemen who also had special needs. The couple was very nice, and surprisingly low maintenance. I wasn't sure how to respond to the other four at the table, so I just went off of how everyone responded and thought about how I'd want to be treated if the roles were reversed. Apparently, this family comes in about once a month. Sometimes they have the 2 kids with them, sometimes it's 4, sometimes it's a whole slew of people... They order pretty much the same things every time they're in, so they knew exactly what they wanted when they sat down. I tried to be as accommodating as possible, asking questions when I was unsure, and treating everyone equally. I brought extra ketchup and refilled iced teas and water glasses. Nothing special. No complications I had to work with. No belligerent guests. Their meal was uneventful. However, when I came to the table to clear away some of the dishes, there was $6 laying on it. The lady said that money was for me from "the boys" Brian and Malcolm--the two older, special needs gentlemen. I said "Oh! That's for me?" and they both nodded their heads and said "Yeah, yeah, for you." I said "Thank you so much!" and walked away. I had made it about 5 feet before I nearly collapsed in a puddle of tears on the floor. I was overwhelmed. When I came back to the table one last time to drop off their credit card and say thank you, "the boys" both shook my hand and told me thank you. It made me think about how often I take my life for granted. I've never struggled with major health issues. Neither has anyone in my immediate family. We're very lucky, and so many times we're concerned about what type of bottled water we drink or something else that's ridiculously trivial. Spending that little time with that family today made me so thankful for my health and mental stabilities and for being able to go out to eat and order for myself and tip my servers. I was immediately thankful for that couple and the gentleness and love they displayed for the people they had brought to lunch. It was apparent that everyone feels like an equal part of that family, and it was a blessing for me to get to see into their lives for just a little while. I can only hope that they were blessed by me today too, because they sure did change my whole day.