Did you hear the one about the senator, the newspaper reporter and the Catholic priest in the coffee shop?

Let me tell you about it, and it’s a true story.

On Saturday morning, I went by the Natchez Coffee Co. to cover U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s meet and greet with constituents.

Hyde-Smith is Mississippi’s first female U.S. senator, who Gov. Phil Bryant appointed back in April to fill Thad Cochran’s unexpired term.

Not only is she filling the role, she’s also running for election against an open field of Republican and Democrat challengers in the November election.

By the time I arrived at the Natchez Coffee Co., a crowd had already gathered.

I purchased a large coffee, looked around the room and s==aw Dickie Wolcott sitting at a table with four or five other guys. He motioned for me to join them, and I obliged.

Turns out the Natchez Coffee Co. is the group’s regular breakfast spot, and Wolcott and his friends seemed more interested in talking about the day’s upcoming football games than seeing the senator, who arrived shortly thereafter and made the rounds working the room.

Hyde-Smith stopped by our table and said, “Oh, is this your regular breakfast spot?”

Yes, the guys said, each taking a turn to shake her hand and introduce themselves.

I told her I was with The Natchez Democrat and that I was just a guest at their table because I was there to cover her visit.

She was gracious and shook my hand before moving on to talk to others.

To my left at our table was a man with a thick accent, so I asked him where he was from.

He told me he was from Ireland and introduced himself as the Rev. David O’Connor, whom I was familiar with but had not yet had the pleasure to meet in person until Saturday morning.

O’Connor was quick to point out, however, that he has been in Mississippi since the early days of the Civil Rights era, noting he had been in Meridian at the time of the 1964 Freedom Summer murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

O’Connor recounted some of his other stops throughout the state, including a stint in the Mississippi Delta and time spent on the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Camille in 1969.

He also spent time in Jackson, working in the diocesan office and being over St. Joseph Catholic School from which several of my friends graduated or attended when I was growing up in Jackson.

All of which makes O’Connor at least as much of a Mississippian as I am, if not more so.

He has, after all, chosen to stay in our fair state and spent most of his career here.

O’Connor said he believes St. Mary Basilica will be the last stop in his priesthood, and I’m fortunate to have met such a great member of the Natchez community and the state of Mississippi.

After my brief chat with O’Connor, we all talked a little more football before I moved on to the next room to hear Hyde-Smith address the crowd.

It is amazing, the people you can meet and the things you can learn when you venture out to the breakfast gathering spot.

Scott Hawkins is the editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at scott.hawkins@natchezdemocrat.com or 1-601-445-3540.