Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:51:05 -0400
From: Mark Stinson
Subject: cool spot
Cool spot 😉
Well after last weeks post I had 22 emails offering help. I replied to them one by one and accepted what was offered or passed things up I couldn’t use. I waited on things to arrive that didn’t and out of that 3 people actually showed up here to help as they promised. Two more helped me get some relief by phone.
Angel with advice that lead me toward help to get mama a small air conditioner to keep her from having health issues with the heat and CORA with some groceries to help what we lost. The three that showed up here on my doorstep did more than help us, they helped me. Neither knew how much they perked me up from being really depressed. Its not always the help as it’s the presence with a kind smile that really helps.
One brought what she could for groceries and after talking a moment I saw the spark in her eyes only creative people have. I am amazed with anyone creative but a lady with creativity and intelligence plus skills with a welder, oh my, my day was complete! I had some things I had saved because they were unique ,, a twisted set of steel cores from an auger that most anyone would toss in the trash. I thought as we talked and offered them to her and the look in her eyes reminded me so much of the look my daddy had when the little wheels in his head went to turning. That was priceless and brightened my day up more than she will ever know .
Another lady came by during the evening ( I need daddy right now rush ) I was already stressed and she distracted me with a conversation of her brother and his love for hot rods like mine. My health isn’t good and when something makes me smile and I feel better ,, that’s far more than any drug can do to help the pain. Saturday was full of friends trying to help me clean up , straighten up and get things going toward normal. We had to get the old fridge out so we could take pictures of it for the insurance company so they can tell me what its not worth. I expired what energy I had left and my back set into spasms. The nice lady came by with me sorting out nylon rollers and bolts a friend gave me. I couldn’t do much else as my back gave out. Her personality was so enjoyable I forgot about the pain, for a little bit 🙂
The last lady came by with some garden veggies, I was sooo happy to see that as mama needs them to stay healthy. She had some gray in her hair with a soft smile that would melt snow off a cold roof in December. During this short conversation we discussed how things had been so tight with money since gas shot up. She mentioned she was riding on air but couldn’t afford tires. It crossed my mind at that moment I had 2 new tires I saved from my parts van when we hit that deer. I asked her to wait a moment and I dug up two tires that just happened to be the same size as hers. I made her smile and my day was complete.
These ladies made my week. I needed that as I had been to places that are supposed to help you in times of need and got this response ,,( If your refrigerator quits food will last for three days ,, we need to see receipts for what you lost , there is no way you could loose that much that fast .) Well for one thing ,, with no ac in the house at 90 degrees with three kids opening and closing the doors on a dead fridge we did loose it in about 12 hours . We didn’t realize we had a problem until water was running out of the freezer where everything was defrosted . We thought we had only lost the air but it wasn’t till late that evening we realized we lost the fridge and my fan . How do you give receipts for corn , beans and veggies from the garden ? I got tired of arguing with these people so I loaded up a 55 gallon trash bag with lost frozen goods and tied it up , threw it on the truck and started trying to fix the mess myself . I don’t recall asking for anyone to give me anything ,, just help me . I lost all faith in my insurance company and after seeing that these help agency’s really don’t help sometimes I discovered real help comes from those that need help worse than I do. It reminded me of Christmas when I round up Angels to help those that cant help themselves . The ones with the least can move mountains and give the most . I hope I am lucky enough to keep these wonderful people that helped as friends . Each one did more than give physically they gave of themselves and made me feel less lost when I needed it the most ..
I’m still in a big bottomless pit with no heat pump, but we got 2 cool spots, one in the kitchen with food in it, one directly in front of the small air conditioner in the living room where mama stays. The small ac wont cool the house, won’t cool the entire room, but it keeps mamas place on the couch just right for her. That’s all that mattered to me. The kids have learned just how nice it is to sleep with fans in the windows at night and believe it or not, you can get cold in August, we did last night, but it felt good !!
I firmly encourage you to consider helping the Council on Aging and CORA. Donations are down and the need is up. If it hadn’t been for them I would be in far greater distress. Take a minute, call them, see what you can do to help them help others. I can’t stress how important they are to many in our community.
Goodnite , Mark 🙂
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