Right

I had the great pleasure of spending the weekend with my 92 year old Mother-in –Law. I can hear you from here. WHAT, the pleasure?!?!?! You know I have always been a guy who loves to talk to my elders. I love the stories of the way it was back when. I love the tales of no electricity, no indoor plumbing. The hard life of making it on the farm or land; I come from a long line of country people. Make no mistake I am very proud of where I come from. I love the fact that today I can grow a garden, fix a water heater, change my own oil in my truck and cut my own grass. But that is another story all together. Back to my weekend.

As I listened to my Mother-in-law I began to realize that age has another thing it does for you if you are pure of heart. And trust me my mother-in-law is pure in heart. My dad used to tell me there would only be 3 people in heaven God, Jesus, and my granny! Well I think there will be a forth at the table for sure. This is a woman who was born in 1917. She lived and worked on a dairy farm in Stanley Wisconsin. She tells of her life and how she walked, 100 head of cattle, 100 miles, on foot, to save them from a drought one summer. She tells, with great joy, about how “cows do not give milk, you have to take it!” She says they always gave her the cow that didn’t kick and she always got kicked off the stool and the milk went everywhere. She said the minute she could she went to college. Now it is 1929 roughly. She boarded a train in Wisconsin and rode to Atlanta Georgia. As a young lady of twenty something I am sure quite a feat for her day. Then she married and had 3 great kids and devoted her entire life to them and the church. Along this road there were thing that happened to her that were so difficult I cannot, and will not, share here as they only serve to prove my early statement about age and it doing something for you. As we sat in a restaurant last night having our own version of date night she was telling me more stories. Some I had heard before and others for the first time. I sat there and we laughed, and had a great time. After we got home and I got her settled, it struck me like a ton of bricks. When we were on the way home from dinner she had told me how her life was so blessed, and how she had always been so happy. WOW, I know what happened to this amazing woman. Here she is remembering her life without the bad stuff. Somehow it is like the bad times have simply been erased from her memory. She spends no time dwelling on them. It is like they never happened. May god give me the grace and wisdom to forget and forgive, more importantly, the people who have brought pain into my life. And let me say here the number is very few. I have been blessed to live a good, full and fun life. I guess what I really need to ask for is if I have brought pain and suffering into anyone life may they forget and forgive me.

So I guess I had better get up and make her breakfast she will be down in a minute. Also just heard from the wife she is headed home from her girl’s weekend. Looking back on this weekend I had fun, but I was shown a life lesson by her. Live right; think right and all will be right.


Peace,

The Blessed Man