An Update and Reflection, Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts

I have been busy working on the final edit of my book, and posting interviews on my other blog.  The time is getting close to sending the book to the publisher.  As I read over what I have written, it seems strange and as if, it happened to another person rather than to me.  I find it amazing that I survived all those rocks that were traversed along the way.  

I am sure I owe that survival ability to my father.  He taught me so many lessons by being a very good role model.  One of the memories I have of him was when I was about ten-years-old.  He had just bought a new mattress set for his bed.  He had just put it on the bed, but he had not disposed of the old set.  A couple of days after he had but the new set on the bed, I came home to find him taking it off and putting the old set back on the bed.  I asked him why he was doing that.  He said that a neighbor’s house had burned, and he was giving the new set to them.  I ask him why he was giving the new mattress set instead of the old one.  He said that when you give, you give the best you have to give. 

Another time, I had a small fender bender.  I came home and handed him the car keys because I figured I was not going to be driving anymore.  He asked me if anyone was hurt, and I said no.  He asked me to tell him what happened, and I described what had happened.  He chuckled, and then said, “Was that all?”  Then, he told me about the time he was backing into a parking space with the big truck.  He had not seen the fire hydrant, and backed right over it snapping it off causing a geyser.  I laughed as I tried to imagine the scene.  Then he said, “Sugar, we all make mistakes.  The important thing is to recognize them, admit them and then try very hard to not make them again.” 

He was active in the community helping anyone who needed it. He took people to town to shop on Saturday’s that did not have a way to go to get groceries and staples.  He served on the school board.  He was always doing something for someone who needed help.  I never heard him complain, and when the going got rough, he kept on going.  I grew up wanting to be like him.

My greatest wish is that anyone who reads it will be inspired to keep the faith, and never give up.  I hope they have learned to laugh at themselves, to cry with others when they are down, and give of themselves to help make this a better world.