Gratitude Day #14
Today I am grateful for the opportunities we have had to work.
Kerry and I both came from working families. Sitting back and expecting someone else to do what you can and should do was not an option.
Get up and get to work. And, do it right the first time.
I hope our children will always know how fortunate they were to grow up in a household where they never had to worry about a place to play and sleep, and good food on their table. And, it was provided by their father, who never questioned or complained that he felt this was his responsibility.
Kerry delivered mail for thirty years. He walked about seven miles each day -- when it was steaming hot in the summer, or below zero in the winter, he was out there. When he felt a bit under the weather, he was out there. And, when he retired he had over 5,000 hours of sick leave that he had accrued.
One day, when he had only been delivering just couple of years or so, his shoes had worn out. His uniform allowance had already been used, so we went out to see if we could find a pair to get by until it kicked in again. We found an inexpensive pair at KMart, and came on home with our four little ones.
A few days later, I asked him how the new shoes were working out, and he said, "Oh, they'll feel better when they're broken in a bit." I never thought any more about it...
Until I was doing laundry. There, I found several pair of his socks that were all bloodied around the ankles. They had rubbed his ankles raw, and he had never said a word.
I sat down on the pile of laundry and cried.
I am grateful that I have also been able to work. I worked outside the home until we had a family. Then, I wished I could go back to working outside the home so I could get some rest. Being a mom was the hardest, the most thankless, and the most important job I could ever have. It was also the most rewarding. And, it never ends.
Now, my life has taken a different turn, and I am extremely grateful for that. Because of what I do, I have been blessed to meet so many of you that I have only known through Facebook.
My parents worked. Dad was in the coal mines, but he also came north and worked at Westinghouse, and owned his own business in refrigeration/air conditioning.
Mom had a few outside jobs, like working in the school cafeteria. But, her main job was raising a family and performing acts of service for those around her.
Kerry's dad was both a CPA and a rancher with about 400 in his herd of milk cows on his dairy. Hence, Kerry's love for all things "cow" comes naturally.
Kerry's mom raised her family of eleven children, but also did a few things outside the home.
These fine parents of ours set a precedence of working hard, and being proud of your work. It's part of life. And, I don't know about Kerry's parents...but, my parents didn't allow for too many excuses. All my mom had to do when I tried to worm out of something was look at me with one eyebrow raised.
Recently, I took our Jeep to a garage for some repairs and new tires. A young man, probably in his early twenties, came out to talk to me and look at the measurements for the tires.
He only had one arm.
I don't believe there was a single thing this young man couldn't do. He rolled out two tires at a time for me to look at, took them back and rolled out two more, then put them on the Jeep.
I couldn't help but look at him and admire him. He was doing better with 1 1/2 arms than I can do with two! He would have had every reason to stay at home and say there was nothing he could do to provide for himself. But no, he was out there proving he could.
So, on this day I am grateful for the good and hardy people who came before me, working from sun up to sundown, planting, harvesting, feeding, milking, sewing, mining, and doing all that was required to provide for themselves and their family.
I am grateful that there has never been a day when I had to wonder if we would be able to pay for our home, our transportation, or our food. Kerry made sure of that.
And, I am grateful that at my age of 63, people still see value in what I have to say, and will even pay to hear me say it.
"We all have work...let no one shirk..."
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