We left on a Thursday after work. Late afternoon and already tired. Forgot to check the weather and hit a storm in Oklahoma City that was truly impressive. One of those Lieutenant Dan, “God showed up!” storms. It was tense to say the least. There might have been some “being married conversations” about who, exactly, should have checked the radars before we left. A few about why we had stopped to eat losing our chance to stay ahead of the storm. (I was starving!) Facts are not always celebrated in those conversations and the particular fact that we hadn’t known about the storm when we stopped was not received with any measure of warmth. Neither was the whimpering coming from the back seat that said our puppy needed to stop. Rain pounding, lightning flashing and hazard lights blinking and another stop was necessary. Thankfully, my husband wears a ball cap everywhere and I always forget an umbrella so we didn’t have to struggle too much with the decision about who would get out with the dog. It just made sense. Don’t shoot the messenger. Twenty soaking minutes later the puppy was curled up in the back seat having not done what she assured us she needed to, I was turned in my seat so I wouldn’t have to see my husband’s particularly cranky profile and we were on our way again. Miles of dark highway and stars peeking through clouds. No conversation. No music. Just the need to get there. A place we had no connection to or desire to visit. Just a stop with a hotel. Somewhere to lay down. A pause before morning and the rest of our trip. And finally we were. There. Trying to gather things in the darkened parking lot. Checking in and dealing with the puppy. Hungry again and not home. Questioning our intelligence and, frankly, our fealty to this whole idea of a road trip. Maybe even to each other. The morning dawned cloudy and grumpy. Nobody had really slept. The puppy, in her own show of disloyalty, barked way louder than was necessary. Two or three times. This caused another married conversation about why we had not left her with her big sister at the kennel. She picked this particular moment to tilt her head at us like she understood we were talking about her. Normally, this would have caused hearts to melt. She’s a really cute puppy. That morning? Zero warmth. Things were not looking good for the road trip. I snuck in the bathroom to see how far it was back home and if there were any storms on the horizon. Like anyone needed Weather Bug to figure that out. We went down to breakfast grumpy and disgruntled and pissed off. On the way down, my husband made sure to comment about how lousy hotel breakfasts always are. Stupid powdered eggs and stale bagels. Old raisin bran and leftover melon. I reminded him, legally, we were not required to eat every free breakfast offered. He looked at me like I was someone who would forget to check the radar before leaving on a trip and we entered the breakfast room in a full-on spiral. But there, in all of her warmth and glory, was Annette. Annette with her name tag and big smile. She took my husband immediatley and showed him how to work the waffle maker. Pointed out the little dishes of chocolate chips and nuts and cherries that he could add to the batter. Pointed to a fresh pot of coffee that he could start on while he waited for the timer to go off. Told me I looked well rested (!) and asked if I would like an everything bagel with cream cheese or some fresh fruit. It was at about that moment that my husband and I both looked at each other to say, “Why can’t you be more like Annette?” But then, just like the night before, the clouds finally parted and we started to grin. I found the silverware for him and he made my coffee just like I like it. We found a table in the sun and Annette sat down to visit with us. Wanted to know where we were headed and told us how much she loved her job. She’d been there for years and wasn’t going anywhere. She told us she liked people and her bosses took good care of her. Told us we should have a good day. We ducked our heads and said we would. Had another cup of coffee and headed up to gather our bags for the next leg of our journey. As we left, I could hear Annette greeting other guests. Gracious, friendly and kind. Each person as important as the last. Day after day. Breakfast after breakfast. Later, in the truck and headed into a sunny day, I checked the Yelp ratings for the hotel. I was thrilled to tell my husband Anette was Yelp famous. Almost every review started with praise for her and how she made people feel. I was so glad we had ended up there with her for that night. Just a happy lady doing her job well and loving freely on all the free breakfast folks. Even curmudgeons like us. Probably, especially curmudgeons like us.