Rains of Sorrow Grow a Garden of Service at St. Joseph Diner and Beyond

by Sarah Baquet, with permission from Penny and Bubba Beasley

When Penny Beasley heard that St. Joseph Diner would be opening to in-person, indoor dining; she knew that’s where she needed to be. On August 21st Penny and her family, parishioners of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Lafayette, took over St. Joseph Diner - every shift, for the entire day with relatives and friends. They wore matching pink t-shirts. They brought festive cupcakes to share. 

What would compel a family to this sort of generosity? 

Her name was Charley Rose, and she would have been 13.

“It’s all come together from grief, from one of the saddest moments of my life,” said Penny.

When Penny and Bubba Beasley were in their forties, they were ecstatic to learn that Penny was expecting a child. They found out they were having a girl. They named her Charley Rose - “Charley” after Penny’s father; “Rose” to soften it with a feminine touch. 

Charley Rose was born, and she was the joy of the Beasley's lives. “Charley Rose was perfect,” said Penny. “She had big blue eyes, a wonderful smell and the softest skin.”  The Beasley’s world revolved around their only child. “Life was so good,” said Penny “...until it wasn’t.” 

In the middle of the night, on Halloween, when Charley Rose was nearly three months old, she stopped breathing. She was taken to the emergency room where doctors verified that she still had a pulse. She was put on life support. A priest came to the hospital and baptized Charley Rose. Despite praying and hoping, on November 1st, the feast of All Saints, Charley Rose went home to heaven. She wore her baptismal gown at her funeral services. 

With the loss of their precious daughter, the Beasley’s world came crashing down. Penny speaks of her own devastation recounting that “When I lost Charley Rose, I lost everything that was important to me at that moment. I forgot that others were important to me - my husband, my friends, my pets…” 

Penny speaks of the generous accompaniment by so many throughout the grieving process. She speaks of the heroism of her husband who went to work every day, despite the grief, so that she could heal. But Penny knew that the grief happened to her and her husband as a couple and that healing also needed to happen as a couple. They fell back on their faith. 

“When I lost Charley Rose, I found my faith in God,” said Penny. 

Battling a deep depressive grief, Penny eventually realized “I’m still broken, but I’m still breathing, and I need to do something besides grieve.” 

And so, on Charley Rose’s first birthday, the Beasleys decided that they would intentionally celebrate the life of their precious daughter. 

A dear friend, Desi, forced Penny out of the house. They picked up a cupcake, a candle, and a balloon. At 1:36 pm (the time of Charley Rose’s birth) they sang happy birthday to Charley Rose, blew out her candle and let the balloon go. 

Penny realized that she needed to celebrate her daughter’s birthday with intentionality every year. Not wanting to repeat the same thing annually, Penny decided to celebrate Charle Rose’s successive birthdays through random acts of kindness and service in the community.  

At this time the Beasleys also started to feel called to adopt. They began the adoption process through the Catholic Social Services. Through God’s providence; however, they were personally approached by a woman who asked for them to adopt the baby she would be giving birth to. They took a risky leap of faith and pursued this private legal adoption knowing that if it fell through, regulations would bar them from pursuing adoption again through the Catholic Social Services. 

Eli was born, and when Penny held him for the first time she knew that she was looking into the eyes of her son. Again, through God’s providence, on Charley Roses’ second birthday the decree for Eli’s adoption was issued. The adoption decree was signed on the anniversary of Charley Rose’s funeral. 

The act of kindness and service that year seems to have been the Beasleys in adopting a child who needed a loving home, but Penny recalls that the real charity was that of Eli’s birth mother. “To give up her baby was one of the most unselfish things she could have ever done,” says Penny. “She loved him so much that she wanted to give him to someone who could take care of him the way she knew she could not..” 

In the following years the Beasleys served in many local nonprofits including the Krewe des Chien, Faith House, and Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

When Eli became a bit older, he was the one who led the family to consider serving through Catholic Charities of Acadiana. 

He saw the need of those experiencing homelessness and felt moved with compassion. He noticed at parades that some people didn’t have shoes. He didn’t like that there were people without a place to put their things. So, on Charley Rose’s 10th birthday, the Beasleys celebrated her life by collecting and donating 10 new backpacks filled with items for those experiencing homelessness and those in Catholic Charities of Acadiana’s emergency homeless shelters. 

When I asked Penny about her experience serving at St. Joseph Diner, she said that she was so delighted to show her son, Eli, what is real. “Eli was our ‘second chance,’ and I want him to have that heart for others who need a second chance,” said Penny. “When someone is down, don’t kick him. Even if someone is down, do the right thing. I needed to teach Eli that,” said Penny. “I want him to have the heart that giving is always better than getting. Always.” 

Thank you for inspiring so many to serve, Sweet Charley Rose. 

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