A Valentine
Monday/February/2011 10:55 AM
That VW bus
was never a good car. Full of everything I owned, the
car’s top speed was 43 miles per hour as I drove up
Georgia backroads to start a summer job in the
mountains of North Carolina. There was one family
living in an old trailer near the place where it
threw a rod. They invited me to stay with them while
the car was fixed, so I unloaded the electric piano
into the front yard and put on a little concert for
their young boy, who grinned and said, “This is like
an episode of ‘The Waltons!’” (Maybe one of his
friends had a television.) I slept on an old car
seat. Returning from house-painting all day, the
mother and father shared their simple dinner (all
fried) with me.
When the job ended five months later, I drove that route to thank them again and give them some money, but all I found were the charred remains of an old trailer and a burned “God Bless Our Home” sign.
Today is Valentine’s Day and I send my love to that kind and generous family who rescued me and let me be part of their family. I wish I knew their names. I hope life has been as kind and generous to them as they were to me.
When the job ended five months later, I drove that route to thank them again and give them some money, but all I found were the charred remains of an old trailer and a burned “God Bless Our Home” sign.
Today is Valentine’s Day and I send my love to that kind and generous family who rescued me and let me be part of their family. I wish I knew their names. I hope life has been as kind and generous to them as they were to me.