Joey Counts to Five

“High Five.”

“Take Five.”

“Five will get you ten.”

“Five Alive.”

Some of these expressions (like the first two) are common, whereas the last two examples are a bit dated. (Where have you gone, “Five Alive” fruit juice blend? To Canada, evidently, where it’s still readily on sale at the local grocery store.)

Anyway, let’s not forget “Count to five.” At least, it’s something that 20-year-old Joey won’t forget anytime soon.

That’s pertinent to today’s edition of New Friend Friday because, you see, counting to five is something that my friend Joey and tutor Mariyah worked on during his weekly math tutoring sessions this Summer. And after his last session in August, Mariyah was pretty sure that Joey “cracked the code” and hit a personal milestone: counting to five. And Joey proved it by joyously doing so in front of Mariyah and the GiGi’s staff before he left that day. But then we put Joey up to a challenge: was he willing to try to repeat that success the next day, in front of his friends at the GiGi’s Kitchen cooking class? Well, call Joey “Ice Man”, because he was all in.

The next day, as the chicken and rice dish was simmering on the stove and the brownies were baking in the oven, the participants took turns sharing their weekly announcements. And when it was Joey’s turn, he stepped up and proudly counted to five. And the place erupted in applause.

You see, that’s the kind of place GiGi’s is. It’s a place where everyone is welcome and cared about and celebrated for who – and how different — they are.

And for things as seemingly small as counting to five.