Monday, Mar. 27, 2006 - 10:50 a.m.

Lucky to be Me

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Last night while I was falling asleep I composed in my head the best entry, and of course for the life of me I can't remember a darn thing about it.

I DID start an entry yesterday about how horrible I am, and it having to take other peoples' bad luck, poor circumstances, and life tragedies for me to realize that my life isn't so bad, and that I am extremely fortunate for all that I have.  However, mid entry, my little bundle of joy decided he wanted to push the power button on my computer, thus ending my session, and screwing up my wireless keyboard and mouse.  It took an hour and a half to get everything back to normal.  I have reset my power options to be prompted as to what to do should the power switch be pushed again, while the computer is on and being used.  

 

Recently a friend of mine lost her husband to Parkinson's.  And then just last week I learned that another friend lost everything he had because he could not pay his rent to his storage facility, so all of his belongings were auctioned off by the storage facility.  Now, this is complicated.  He is young.  And when I say young, he is, I think, 30.  He has 5 children.  His wife left him last year, leaving him with the 5 kids, ages 2 to 10.  He was finally able to get into a rental house, however, he has nothing except beds and a few clothes for the kids.  A party was held for him Saturday night, a kind of house warming and "bring stuff to donate" party.  I walked into that house, which is practically in the barrio, and literally, there was nothing there.  No furniture, no utensils, no bathroom implements, almost no food, and hardly any clothes for the kids.  There was a big screen TV with a crack right down the middle of the screen which I am sure someone gave them, and a couple of pots and pans, and a few plastic forks and spoons. But no chairs, sofa, tables, nothing.   He himself has no bed, nor even a mattress.  But they are making due.  I was able to go to the dollar store and the Salvation Army for supplies and a few items that they could use.  My favorite find was a hot pink bean bag chair for his girls.  They LOVED it.  I was also able to get him some cooking supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, a toaster, cleaning supplies, coat hangers (nice sturdy plastic ones, and not the cheap wire dry cleaner kind) and some coloring books for the kids.  There was actually food at the party as he works in the butcher department of a grocery store, and we had skirt steak and chicken.  He is Hispanic, and as is common with Hispanic families, the extended family is very much the immediate family.  His siblings and uncle have been helping him out in the interim.  The typical American family could and should take a lesson from the Hispanic community about the meaning of family.  And bless his heart if he is not going to let his misfortune drag him down.  He is always cheerful, pleasant, and just a nice guy to boot.  I felt very lucky to have helped him out in any way.  It was a fun party.  Little kids running around everywhere, great food, and I was one of the few "gringos" there.  The Tejano music was going strong, and his brother got out his new accordion and was playing along with songs on the radio.

 

So, the point of all of this is that I have to remind myself that I am very fortunate, and not to take things for granted because you never know what could happen.  Yes, my husband is 7,000 miles away, but we have a beautiful home, food on our table, and a precious little boy who is the absolute love of our lives to nurture, and shape into a man we hope he will be.


Song Virus du Jour:  "Whisper to a Scream" ~ Icicle Works


Useless Trivia du Jour:  Having just left the legal field, I am still compelled to read this blog called "Anonymous Lawyer."  You MUST take it with a grain of salt.

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