Mr. Lucious Johnson

I had dinner tonight with a dear friend to celebrate my retirement. We shared many old stories, but one I told that I hadn't thought about for years was the story of Mr. Lucious Johnson. When I hired Lucious he was 64 and I was 35. He was a quiet, gentle black man whom I had hired to be my floor technician at a brand new elementary school. He worked mostly those odd hours when the children weren't there so that he could run the big noisy equipment that kept the floors beautiful, shiny, and new. He did wonderful work and was very proud of his floors. We had many teddy bears around the school and he would tell the children that they ran around the school halls at night, sliding on their fuzzy bottoms, polishing the floors. They would laugh and wonder at his tales. They too loved Lucious. But what I remember most about Lucious were those quiet times when he and I were alone in the building and I would hear his big, deep, beautiful voice singing his church hymns. Sometimes I would quietly sing along and he never knew that. Mostly, however, I would just listen and learn from his heart-felt singing. Sometimes I would come out to check on him and find him on his knees with his small pocket knife scraping up a spot that just wasn't supposed to be there, singing all the while.

Mr. Lucious Johnson is singing in the heavenly choir now. I just hope that he knew that I loved and respected him. We shared so much - similar work ethics and love for the children - and he cared every bit as much about his job as I did about mine. I was so lucky to have known him!