Was "Late" Better Than "Never"?

Since Jada's verbals aren't that great, I often don't quite know what she's talking about. So when she started making cryptic comments this week about us having to come to school for soup, I was more than a little befuddled. It turns out her class made a big pot of vegetable soup as a class project, and the parents were invited yesterday during lunchtime to partake with them in it.

We became aware of this event, but not of the time, the day before. So it wasn't until the morning of that we found out it would be a lunch thing; and since Jada had a speech appointment in the morning, we didn't find out until late morning at that.

Amy had Aaron for the day so couldn't return to the school for soup, so as we had previously discussed, she texted me the time. I was in the middle of meetings downtown and caught the text in between. After my second meeting, I bolted back to West Philadelphia, got off a stop short of my office, and hoofed it by foot to the school.

I arrived over 45 minutes late. Parents were leaving and the party was winding down. I looked for Jada, only to have her almost immediately crumple into my arms in tears. She was saying she wanted me to take her home, but I wondered if having to go the first 45 minutes of this event without her parents, while most other classmates' parents were in attendance, distressed her.

My friend, whose son is in the same class, told me Jada had been just fine until I had arrived. They say "better late than never," but I'm not so sure in this case. I guess I am glad that I made it, albeit late, instead of bailing altogether. And by the evening, the incident seemed behind Jada. Still, I suppose that better than both "late" or "never" is "there and on time." I'll have to work on that for next time.