Mississippi Spanish

A red pickup truck pulled over on the other side of the road and the driver yelled something to me. I couldn't hear her because of the traffic and the wind, plus I sometimes have trouble understanding Mississippi-ese even if the person speaking is across the table from me in a quiet room. For instance, if they're "fixin" something, it doesn't mean they are repairing it; it means to prepare or get ready as in "I'm fixin' to go to the store."

Well, the pickup drove off and I didn't know if she was saying hello or cussing me out. A few minutes later, the pickup pulled up on my side of the road. The woman coasted to a stop, rolled down the window and said something to me in Spanish. "Where is Lucy when I need her," I thought. I guess the driver could tell by the blank expression on my face that I didn't have the gift of "Spanish Tongues." She nodded to her grandson, who was about eleven, and he turned to me and said. "She wants you to bless her."

Well, quicker than you could say "altar boy" my mind raced back to my Catholic upbringing. Realizing that she would recognize and appreciate a blessing in Latin, I raised my right hand, slowly made the sign of the cross and said, "In nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." Her eyes moisten and I just had a moment to give her grandson a Zacchaeus DVD before she sped off.

God was at work again. He touches people through the barriers of time, space and language. He used a little Italian guy walking in Mississippi to bless a red pickup driving Spanish woman in Latin. The translation was flawless for God simply said "I love you."