Home Furnisher

Those of us who are fortunate enough to have nice homes and furnishings sometimes forget that there are many people that don’t have that type of comfort in their lives. Recently my family was in the midst of a household clean out to make room for new furniture and carpeting. We were also in the process of a yard makeover so had to get rid of a lot of bushes, a couple of mid size trees and a broken down rusty spa. In our haste to get things done , we were prepared to call junk removal Hollywood to get rid of our old sofa, kitchen table, chairs and a couple of lamps along with the yard stuff when out of the blue a neighbor from down the street came to us and told us about a family right in our own community that were struggling financially. Both parents had lost their jobs and they have four children under the age of 12. It seems they were so desperate to put food on the table that they sold some of their furniture. It was then that I realized our old stuff could better befit that family than our original plan. 

I got the phone number of those folks and called them with a gentle offer of giving them our furniture. I say gentle because I didn’t want to insult or embarrass them. Well, they were overwhelmed at the thought and graciously accepted.  

How often do we take things for granted in our lives? I would imagine it’s more than we realize. We go about our daily routines with nary a thought to the homeless people that struggle each and every day to find shelter and food. What about families like those that we helped out? I, for one, have been enlightened and intend to be a little more grateful for my blessings and I will also try to be more mindful of others’ needs. 

My Mother

My elderly mother resides in Palm Harbor, Florida and has been living alone and managing on her own quite well for a few years. In fact, she is so hellbent to be independent that she tackles house cleaning and yard work in much the same way she did as a much younger woman. In spite of arthritis and multiple aches and pains, she remains a proud individual and never asks for help even in moments when she needs to be more aware of the risks she may be taking. My brother and I live hundreds of miles away from her and have full time jobs so, unfortunately, we can’t be there for her as often as we would like but she does have neighbors who keep an eye out for her (they do it with discretion so as not to hurt that Irish pride.) One, in particular, communicates with me on a regular basis just so I know what Mom is up to. I received a call the other day about Mom cleaning…apparently heavy duty clean up. She was seen pushing and pulling some heavy duty furniture from the house to the curb and it was obvious to the neighbor watching her that the activity was a bit too much because she kept stopping and holding her back. This concerned neighbor and friend went to Mom and suggested that she call a professional for help but met with the resistance and stubbornness that my mother is noted for. 

When the neighbor couldn’t get anywhere, she went back home but about ten minutes later, Mom looked up and there was a truck passing by that just so happened to have the words “Dumpster Rentals Palm Harbor” on the side panel. A friendly fellow jumped from the driver’s side and another guy exited from the passenger side and together they persuaded my Mom to allow them to take over the moving and removal of the articles she was dragging to the curbside. These two humanitarians led Mom to believe that it was a city service for free.

To this day she doesn’t know that her neighbor is the one that contacted the company and actually paid them to do the work. This good Samaritan not only helped a friend in need but by not telling Mother that it was paid for, she saved a sweet old lady’s pride.

My Grandchildren

If you have now or have ever had children then it would be no surprise to you when they say the “darndest things” (in fact there have been old television shows that aired under that name. The idea was to ask questions of youngsters from different age categories and see what their kid minds conjured up.) In their innocence, children usually say just what’s on their mind; no filters! They also often misunderstand the pronunciation of words that they hear. Another avenue of confusion is spelling. When in the primary grades, kids learn to spell tons of words. Misreading is often a source of laughter when a child gets it all wrong! Of course, we don’t want to hurt the kids self esteem, so we grown ups try hard to hold back the laughs in front of them but sometimes it’s just too cute and funny to overlook. For instance, I recall a time when my own son ordered cloud ice cream in a restaurant, causing all of us diners to scratch our heads as to what he was asking for. Turned out he was referring to rainbow sherbert. That’s just a sweet little memory that our family has held onto for many years. While I was visiting a neighbor recently, his grandson was working on his first grade reading skills and spotted a truck when he looked out of the living room window. Coincidentally, this was during the period of time when the boy was testing his palate and discovered what his favorite soup is. He ran from the window to where his grandpa and I were sitting and talking. I thought he was going to burst with excitement as he declared loud and clear “Grandpa, that truck down the street has my favorite soup!” A little confused, we adults ventured out to view the truck. The lad said, “see, it says dumpling rentals!” (explanation: his favorite soup is chicken and dumpling)

The disappointment on this little guy’s face was so sad to look at as we gently explained to him that the writing actually said “Dumpster Rentals St Pete” When he grows up, he will have a great story to tell his own grandkids!