How Your Life Can Change In A Moment
Example #1
Today, I was cleaning the kitchen cupboards when the phone rang. It was a neighbor, asking me if I could see smoke coming from our other neighbor’s farm. I looked out the door to see the gravel road that runs between us, was packed with cars, several fire trucks and an ambulance.
Our neighbor is a woman in her 80’s, who lives alone, but has family living close by. She is like a grandma to Mike and I. You can imagine what was running through my mind. As it turns out, it was her barn that burned down. She is shaken but unharmed. Her house is undamaged and the horses that were both inside and out, are all okay. It was just the barn.
But the barn, was not just a barn. It was a symbol of a way of life. When she and her husband had the barn-raising in 1965, many of the neighbors helped to build it. And when it was completed, there was a celebration in the mow, complete with a band for a dance and a banquet. I have a 25 gallon crock at my gallery, that had been hoisted up into the mow, for use as a punch bowl. Until recently, she had a newspaper clipping on her fridge, with the story of the barn-raising from the year it was built. The article included a photo of her family, standing proudly in front of their new barn.
They are a draft horse family. Her late husband worked the ground with his horses regularly. They hosted bonfires with hayrides in the winter. They showed their horses as well as particpated in Thresher events. When family members die or get married, their horses are present. The horses and the barn are a big part of who they are.
Though it was just the barn, it is still a loss that many of us feel.
Example #2
Yesterday, I was off with my art group. We went to a local gallery. (Out here in the wide expanse of Iowa, that means within 1-2 hour drive.) It was the last day of an exhibit. The husband and wife team, whose work was on display, gave us a personal tour and talk of their show, just before it was to be taken down. It was a wonderful way to spend the day.
I get home later to find out my husband had been hurt. He had been loading hay to sell. He had finished up and went to close the machine shed doors, when a large chunk of ice was knocked loose from the roof and hit him on the head. He said, he swore and hopped around. But then got in the tractor to come home. About a quarter mile down the road he felt some warmth on his forehead and reached up to find blood. A lot of blood. Since I was gone he went over to out aforementioned neighbor and she patched him up. It was fortunate that he was wearing a thick wool hat because I believe, he could have been seriously hurt, had he not. And since I didn’t return home until 6pm, he could have been knocked out in the snow all day. Scarey.
It’s A Cup Is Half Full Thing
In general, most days I think I got it all planned out. And then something random pops up and reminds me that every day is precious and needs to be treated like the gift it is.
A person can look at these events and say “Woe is me. Why are these bad thing happening to me. I don’t deserve this.” Or you can look at it as a blessing. It could have been really serious. Someone could have died. There are so many things to be grateful for. Maybe, it just takes a knock on the head to remember it.
Tags: loss