It's no wonder why people ask Sharon Davidson how she's able to keep smiling, when they hear her husband has endured and survived eight heart attacks; his most recent was in 2003, and one of their sons died of a massive heart attack in 2020 at the age of 33.
I just wanted to write about her because I was drawn to her cheerfulness, sense of humor and patience, in the midst of running a very busy six-register self-checkout in our local grocery store. We all know events in 2020 created a culture of unrest that seemed to be magnified especially for shoppers in lines waiting to check out. I discovered there is so much more to her story.
Sharon at her post in the self-checkout
Sharon and her husband are parents of two sons and two daughters and have 10 grandchildren.
She was surprised when I asked her if I could share her story here. "No one has ever asked me that before, but it's ok, I'm willing!" We sat at a table in the popular coffee shop built inside the major grocery store where she works. She shared her heart. If she's not helping a customer at one of the six registers, I'd talk to her when I'm using the self-checkout. I never knew her last name, so I asked her. She said, "Davidson, like the motorcycle!"
When I laughed, she said, "My husband wanted to name our daughter, Harley, and I said, 'NO!'' My husband has a weird sense of humor-- to be an only child--I guess he'd have to be to be married to me 40 years. He's been a gospel singer and played guitar. He has been a jack-of-all-trades. He's retired now."
Sharon is the seventh born of 10 children. Their father worked outside the home and their mother worked as a homemaker. She describes her 90-year-old mother as a "go-getter." When Sharon and her siblings send their mother a card, letter, or gift, they sign their name and their number in the birth line, such as "Sharon #7."
"My mom taught us to help others. I've worked since I was 9 years old, by cutting grass, baby sitting, and doing laundry. I even made cigarette runs and grocery store runs for neighbors. We kids had to come up doing things for ourselves, as you could imagine with 10 of us!" she said.
Sharon Davidson in the grocery store break room having dinner after a long day working the self-checkout area.
Within generations of her own family Sharon has experienced brokenness, abandonment, and other serious issues that still could tear their family apart.
One of the Bible verses she stands on is:"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13). "I'm able to overcome the brokenness in my family by the grace of God. I don't know where I'd be without God -- probably in a padded cell! Through a family situation, God sent our year-old granddaughter to live with us and her life and joy in our home prepared me for what was to come next. She was sent to us exactly one year before my son died. I was back at work three weeks after he died. God is the Higher Power that understands me and gives me strength. Since my son passed, I still have emotional moments triggered, but I know Jesus is teaching me to learn to have faith in Him and He's with me every step I take. It is instead of leaning on the world and other people. If I want somebody to support me, I want Somebody who is definitely in control."
In addition to their large family, they've been foster parents for the last 13 years, mainly to teens from 12-17 years old, and temporary foster parents for 25 children. "These kids from broken homes are grown up and still keep in touch and intentionally come by and see me at this store. They say things like, 'Hey, Mom, how are you doing?' These children we fostered call me, send me letters from college. I love it! They've gone onto college, have great jobs and are happy!"
Sharon says she's working on this new generation of juniors and seniors who come into the store on Friday and Saturday nights. "It's crazy with kids here on the weekend. If they act up, I'll correct them and tell them, 'You're preparing for adulthood, you've got to behave in the store!' They'd say I'm like a mom to them."
There were a few people who stopped by the table where we were meeting to say hello to Sharon and a few people even said to me, "If you are writing about Sharon, you need to know she is great and we all love her! She's the best!" Some were even high school age! I saw it up-close that she is influencing generations!
Her life is full. She and her husband regularly go to church and to their grandchildren's ballgames. "My number one thing I wanted to be was a mom. I'm doing what God has for me to do: a guardian, a nurturer. This is what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a wife and a mother. When I applied to be a temporary foster parent, I had to fight my way to become one. I wanted to take care of my own family, work full time, and take in foster kids. A judge asked me how could I do all of this? I told him my verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and he said, "Let's not bring THAT into this."'
"I told him that's my Rock you're talking about. He holds my hand, and sometimes my mouth because I'm putting my foot in it."
"A cheerful heart has a continual feast"
Proverbs 15;15
💖Polly
