More Than A Job: Jameir Neely And The Light Of A Smile

You’re going to your best friend’s house. You walk up the steps to the porch and your friend is waiting for you there in the rocking chair. You sit down with just a smile as a greeting. Your friend hands you a cup of coffee and you sit together looking out over the landscape. There’s the one lone road, the driveway, fields and a line of trees. You feel okay there sitting with your friend. There’s no need for excess words. You can breathe deeply and loudly, and that’s okay. You can sit with your story and growth pains. It’s fine to just be there as you are because your friend has taken the time to know you even when you were hesitant to be known.

That’s Jameir Neely, supervisor of Lexington Inn.

He’s the friend in the rocking chair. To every single person who comes in the Lex.

“I try to live every day, day by day, and learn every second that I’m awake,” said Neely. “My lesson, I just, it just goes through a lot of things; when it comes to traffic, when it comes to raising my kids, when it comes to making sure I’m at work.”

For Neely, every moment is a chance to learn something new, and many times that means learning something new about the students that come through the Lex, whether they’re regulars or not.

“I love to walk through the dining room and see people I know and they know me, and speak them by name,” he said.

And those who come in and don’t smile, or don’t look up, he doesn’t give up on them either. No matter how many times they walk through the Lex, he’s going to smile at them, speak a word.

“When someone doesn’t speak the first time, I keep smiling and speaking to them, and eventually they speak,” he said.

Eventually they look up, see that they’re seen, and feel the warmth necessary to walk up the steps to the porch and sit in the rocking chair. And they didn’t need anything but the willingness to do so.

Neely is from Jackson and came to Union about four years ago. He’s now supervisor and says he’s not going anywhere soon. “It’s been nothing but open arms,” he said. “It made me a better person and a better leader at life.”

And a leader at life he is. Not only does he come to work everyday in hopes that he can continue to build the relationships he already has with students and in hopes that he can build new relationships with students he hasn’t met yet, but he comes to work every day with the attitude that he is going to learn how to be a better husband and father.

Neely is from Jackson, Tenn., but moved to South Bend, Ind., for a short seven months before returning to Jackson and meeting his wife, Jennifer Neely. They now have two children, their youngest being only two months old. When asked who his mentors are, his wife was the first person Neely named, after which he mentioned his father, who’s worked for the same company for over 30 years, and his supervisor here at Union, Mrs. D.

“She’s helped me through pretty much my whole experience here at Union,” Neely said.

He went on to talk about the rest of his team and how their willingness to listen and take heed of what needs to be done is what keeps him motivated every day. The truth is that while Neely works hard to provide for his family, he works hard so that he can love the people he comes in contact with every day. Whether that be his team, his supervisors, his family, or all of the many students that walk through the Lex daily, Neely is an example of a man who practically lives out the Gospel. Neely isn’t here for himself. His hard work, his resiliency and perseverance, his gratefulness and graciousness and his pursuit of holy love aren’t for himself. When he sees that his coworker is leaving for the evening, he calls out to them to ensure that they know they are seen and appreciated and missed. When he sees those students whom he has already gotten to know, he speaks their name through the warmth of a smile so that no matter what kind of day they’re having, they can still know their existence is worthy of kindness and acknowledgement.

He loves to work, smile and learn, but how inspiring it is that he knows how to do all of those things at once.

“If I can’t smile, I got an issue,” he said. “I love smiling. I know most of y’all have bad days at school, so I want that every time you hit that door or this door, I’m gonna make you smile. I just want to make sure you get a smile before you leave.”

In a span of fifteen minutes, Neely waves to multiple different people, calling them by name. And they wave back. There are smiles on each face, including my own.

“See you tomorrow!”

“See you!”

And when I left too, it was: “Maybe I’ll see you Tuesday!”

Because Tuesday is sushi day, and it’s the only day I go to the Lex. I don’t always make it in for sushi day, but this Tuesday, I’ll probably be there. Just to see Neely. Maybe sit in the rocking chair for a minute. Take a breath. Have my fill, of food, yes, but also of friendship and the possibility to be known.

Photo courtesy of Neil Cole