I Don't Like Everyone I Meet

      Eh Hum.   Well that's kind of rude.

   
     There are always those that no matter how grand life is, they will always find something wrong with it.  No matter if you performed your activity with pure perfection, they will always find something you could do better.  They can take a simple conversation about how wonderful the sun feels and turn it into a full blown negative conversation about how it is shining too much or not enough. 

     We walk away from that negative conversation with our own shoulders slumped, our spirit stomped on  and no smile on our faces. 

     It is not fair of me to say that I don't like everyone I meet, it is more correct to state that I just do not enjoy everyone's company that I meet. 

     We all encounter those individuals that when you see them from afar, you stop, assess the situation and look for an alternate route around them.  We know the conversation will be pessimistic before we even start and we are not always in the mood to deal with the unfavorable effects that the exchange could have on us.

     Let me tell you of this story.

     The Spring after I began writing my blog I encountered one such woman.  It's not like I could avoid her each and every time we met, since we attended many of the same events.  One such day I turned and observed her making a bee line straight for me.   My muscles tensed, my teeth gritted against each other and I thought, " Oh SNAP!"  Too late.  Eye contact.  Fudge.

     Walking back to our vehicles slowly we began the usual exchange.  I could have given her a pot of gold and it would not have changed her attitude.  I finally had to tell her that her outlook about everything  sucked.  In a polite, but straight forward fashion that is.  

     She stopped us on the pathway and told me how much it meant to her that I was honest and that she faithfully reads my blog.  That she looks forward to each week.  

     I nodded, smiled and said thank you and turned to leave because I did not wholeheartedly believe her.  She then put her hands on my shoulders so that I would pay better attention and said, " No Carey, you don't understand.  My shoulders are so heavy.  I have a hard time handling my life and keeping a positive attitude.  When I read your blog  it brings me some peace and perspective."

     Oh.

     Standing there in shock, trying to quickly comprehend what just erupted out of this woman's mouth, I learned a lesson about myself.   I judged her quickly because of the exterior that she portrayed.  I did not once attempt to look past it at the depressed spirit she was carrying around.   I didn't want to.  It was not pleasant to be around her.  Her body slumped and her eyes, for the first time, were not hard with resentment.

     I sighed.  At the same time I was recovering from her confession, I rolled my eyes toward God for pushing me to do the right thing and silently sent him a message.  " You had better make it worth it when I get up there!"  I envision that His lips formed a slight smirk and I believe He even added a sarcastic wink.  He has a sense of humor, that God.

     We have no idea who will need us and when.  We have no

idea how our words or actions can affect someone.  Had she not put her hands on my shoulders, I would have quickly ended our conversation for fear of how it would spiral down.  I did not offer advice, I listened and fervently attempted to steer her down a more positive path. ( for everyone's sake!)

     Since that time we have developed a better relationship and even spoke of that exact moment as I am describing it to you.  As it turns out, she assumed I was a bit of a snoot because of my quiet personality and tendency to be introverted.  I snickered at our scene.  Here we both made assumptions without knowing the true reality of each other.  

     God puts us in positions that are not always desirable to us.  The position that He puts us in may be a lesson for our own learning or it could be that He is using us because that spirit He created will not listen to Him.  In this instance, I learned something as well as helped one of His children at the same time. 

 That, friends, is an incredible 

feeling.

 

Our Crawford County Fair Family

     Most of us have some sort of extended family.  Although we may not get to spend much time with them, we know they will always step up to the plate when we are in need.

     My husband and I have quite a list that we consider our extended family.  Whole communities have shown their support during our need over the last three years.   Sharing this story of our local fair family and how they pulled together to show their support for us still gets me all choked up.  Fair time is just around the corner and speaking of this instance just last week, filled my chest with overflowing gratitude towards the amount of people in our community that can rally, when one of it's members is down.

     Nearly seven months had passed since our collision,  I had

already completed, I believe, five surgeries on my pelvis and bilateral ankles.  Just a couple of weeks prior I had learned to take my first steps using a walker and had progressed to using a walker with wheels!   What was equally as exciting was that I put on a pair of shoes for the first time in six months!  The ominous wheelchair was still in my life, but fair time was too rugged for that cheap seat to functional properly at the fair grounds.

    I refused to make our kids miss showing their livestock animals that year.  I did not want my condition to continue to dictate the activities of my family.  We could also use a "pick me up" by letting the kids have some fun and doing a little socializing ourselves.  I could endure two trips to the swine barn a day or I could sit on my blue Yamaha, four-wheelin' walker and let the kids take turns pushing me.  If I recollect correctly, it was only 117 degrees that July, which helped none with my already massively swollen ankles.  All week our family received well wishes, hugs and sincere compassion from all who knew us.  

  

   The moment that took the cake was Saturday's livestock sale.  I sat next to the sale ring waiting for our kids to emerge one by one with their animals.  Our middle two daughters won the top two awards in the swine division, it was our high light of the week!

       As our second oldest walked the ring with her pig, I had one camera in my left hand taking a video and another camera in my right hand snapping photos.  I was being a "Mom" and loudly whispering for her to smile and look at the crowd when I finally heard the auctioneer say that she had set a record.  

     What?!  I was so busy juggling my cameras and insisting my daughter keep a smile on her face that I hadn't heard a single word the auctioneer had said.  Both cameras stopped following my daughter as I turned my head to the right to view the crowd.  I viewed a mass of people, but I didn't see a single face. 

      My vision had tremendously blurred with the turning of my head as my mind wrapped around what these wonderful friends of ours had  just done.  My lips parted in awe as I swung my head to the left to find my husband leaning against a wall with his hands stuck deep in his pockets.  

     His eyes were swimming with un-shed tears, that was my confirmation that I understood what was transpiring.  I held his stare for so long that he walked  over, knelt down beside me and wiped the tears from my cheeks ever so gently with his calloused knuckles.  "Carey, these are good people," he said softly.  Indeed you are, friends, indeed you are. 

     $17 a pound that piece of pork brought on that hot, humid day.  My daughter had no trouble keeping that smile from enveloping her entire face. To top it off, the hog was donated back to be auctioned off, this time to help with medical expenses!    

     I made an inept attempt to focus on the rest of the sale, but it was a futile one.  My emotions overwhelmed me as I sat in my lawn chair staring blankly, still in awe.  Leaving the show pavilion, an acquaintance said in earnest, "Carey, the 2011 Crawford County Fair is the start to a better second half of this year."  I believed that with all of my heart.  

     Looking back, I'm not sure how I even attended that fair or survived through the pain that it cost me.  Your can bet your bottom that I wouldn't have traded that moment for one pain free day.  It was a turning point, a boost our family needed, but never would have asked for.  That is what friends do best.   We couldn't be more proud to be a part of a community like this.  

We love our Crawford County Fair Family!