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Reporter’s Note: The
following is an article I wrote this summer, but it was never printed
because another issue arose. Since we are nearing Thanksgiving, the time
has come, I think, to share it with our readers.
Life is a
series of burdens and blessings. Unfortunately, both can cause stress
and anxiety. You can be dealt one, then the other, then back again, a
million times a day. The trick is to learn to just roll with it--and
hope burdens don’t outweigh the blessings. You have to count them both
to survive.
Last year,
Frank
and I were blessed with a new (to us) vehicle (blessing). Frank was not
“going to work” (burden) but instead was working the farm
(burden/blessing) and could piddle around the roads in our beat up Ford
truck (blessing). His back has been ailing him (burden), but visits to
the chiropractor are helping (blessing).
With that
situation, we decided to sell our old van (burden). It was my father’s
(blessing), but now has 400,000-plus miles (burden) and just sits in the
yard (burden). We listed it in all the trader’s mags, and people came
and went and called to see it (burden), and never did buy (burden).
Then
Frank
went back to work (blessing), and we didn’t feel so pressured to sell
the van (blessing). He no longer carries his wallet in his pocket when
driving (which helps keep his back aligned), and he feels better
(blessing). He was working again without extreme pain (blessing).
Two weeks
after he’d been trekking back and forth to work in Glenville, the Ford
truck broke down (burden). But, we still had the van (now a blessing),
so we parked the truck for expensive repair (burden) and both of us
worked (blessing), preparing on the sidelines for the upcoming annual
family reunion (blessing). Close to 125 people (blessing), expected at
our house (uh, burden).
So, two days
before the reunion, we pile in the van to go pick up tables and chairs
for the event (burden). On the way, the van breaks down (burden), right
in front of our friend’s house (blessing), who was home (blessing), but
doesn’t have a phone (burden).
We both have to work the
next day (now a burden), still have to pick up tables and chairs
(burden), and we only have one operating vehicle (burden), which is
somewhere where we aren’t (burden), and won’t hold tables and chairs
(burden).
We have just
enough time (blessing) to get to our house, call to find a part, (which
was affordable - blessing), get in the new-to-us ride (blessing) and fly
to the parts store in
Spencer which had it
in stock (blessing.) While Frank’s on the phone, I take out my wallet to
show our friend (blessing), who gave us a ride (blessing), a picture of
my niece (blessing) and her unborn jelly bean who will be a boy
(blessing).
Meanwhile,
another family member (FM 1) whose vehicle went down last month
(burden), has a new (to him) vehicle in his driveway (blessing), but the
paperwork to make it legal hasn’t been processed yet by the state
(burden). He, after work, knew we were supposed to pick up chairs and
tables (burden), and had his ride drop him off at the table and chair
location, knowing we could bring him the rest of the way home (thinking
- blessing.)
We are
pulling out of the driveway to head to the parts store, when in pulls a
helpful friend in a truck (blessing), pulling the non-operating vehicle
(burden) of a second family member (FM 2) who had been sitting, broken
down, on the far side of Sand Ridge Hill (burden) for more than an hour.
But, that one’s an easy
fix as well (blessing), and an affordable part (blessing) and guess
what--we’re just on our way to the parts store (now a blessing).
So, on a
quest for two parts (burden), we fly towards Spencer, not knowing FM 1
is waiting for us to pick him up with the tables and chairs (known and
unknown burdens). We arrive in the parking lot with 20 minutes to spare
(blessing).
We can fix the van
tonight (blessing), get tables and chairs tomorrow (uh, maybe), get FM
2’s vehicle back on the road more quickly (blessing), and both go to
work in the morning without issue (blessing). Right?
Frank
reaches to the console for his wallet--which is in the van, broken down,
in front of our friend’s house.
I reach then for my
wallet--which is still on the kitchen counter where I showed my friend
my niece’s picture.
!
! !
I am glad to report that
neither of us spontaneously combusted in the parking lot of Advance Auto
Parts in Spencer
(blessing). In fact, we both just sat, completely beaten and defeated
(burden), thinking that life had decided we were going to be dealt a
lousy hand that day (burden), and there was just nothing we could do
about it (burden).
As I lowered
my head to wallow in my misery, I spied the moneybag I used that day to
collect on my newspaper delivery run. Within it was just enough cash to
cover what we needed (Blessed Miracle!).
Meanwhile, a
third family member (FM 3) with a truck (blessing) encounters FM 1’s
original ride home (blessing). FM 3, knowing we are one vehicle down and
in Spencer
(burden), heads towards FM 1 and the tables and chairs (blessing).
So, we head
back from Spencer in our working vehicle (blessing), to the broken van
(burden), which Frank can easily fix (blessing), now in the dark
(burden), across from a friend’s house (blessing), who has flashlights
(blessing) with dead batteries (burden), but just fixed a big dinner
(blessing).
Frank
fixes the van (blessing) and while we’re on the porch eating hot dogs
(blessing), we think about when to pick up chairs and tables (burden),
still ignorant that FM 1 was counting on us for a ride. (Actually, it’s
a blessing that we didn’t know, or the added pressure may have caused a
mental meltdown for us earlier in the evening.)
Up pulls FM
3 with FM 1, in a truck with a bed full of tables and chairs (double
blessing). FM 1, who hasn’t had dinner (burden) while waiting two hours
for a ride (burden), is also fed by friends (blessing).
So, before
too late (blessing), we had operating vehicles (blessing), and all
family member’s home (blessing), all family members fed (blessing),
tables and chairs unloaded (blessing). We were ready for the reunion
(blessing), and both had vehicles (blessing) to get us to work
(blessing) the next day.
Anyone who says life isn’t a
roller coaster ride isn’t counting all the highs (blessings) or lows
(burdens). The best you can do is roll along, laughing when you can,
gritting your teeth when you can’t and occasionally throwing your hands
up in the air--all without throwing up.
Then, at the end of the
day, the blessings will outnumber the burdens. And that, in itself, is a
blessing.
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