A Good Thing

I feel like telling a really good story today.  I have the best one to tell.

 My dad always said he knew a good thing when he saw it. He knew a good deal, or a good man, or a good kid, or a good idea.  He never missed a good meal or a good recipe, nor did he miss a good cobbler or some good strawberry ice cream.  He knew a good place to buy a car or a good place to fill up with gas.  He knew a lady who made a good sticky bun as well as a good cup of coffee to go with it.  He never missed a good drive and always knew a good way to get somewhere.  He just always knew a good thing...

Early on in his career as a patrolman, he met a different kind of Good Thing when he pulled her over on the highway between Sidney and Kimball in a routine traffic stop.  If I can recall correctly, this Good Thing was speeding and was most likely full of choice words for him about how he was going to make her late to wherever she was going.  It's no surprise that he let this Good Thing off with just a warning.  He was no fool!  He didn't want anything to jeopardize the future he was almost certain to have been planning with her.  And I'll bet the bank that the visit he paid a few days later to the attorney's office where the Good Thing worked was no mistake.  Clearly, he knew she was the Good Thing.  He always said she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  But that's only part of the reason he fell in love with her.

This is one good lookin' Soccer Grandma!  Hope I look this good at 82!

Romantic?  Yes.  Idealistic?  Maybe.  True?  You betcha.  To make a long story short, this Good Thing fell in love with a handsome and well respected state patrolman, and the rest is history.  They married in 1950, and the Good Thing and Dad remained married just a few days shy of 60 years.  It's funny, though.  Watching them together in the last few days of their 60 years together changed how I looked at them both.  Being the last of their seven children, I always knew they were married, but I never thought of them as in love.  They had a really good thing together.  They made a really good thing together.  They taught us good things about love, respect, committment, and family.

Take one look at this Good Thing, just spend five minutes with her, and you'll know why my dad fell head over heels in love with her after a simple traffic stop.  A single conversation with her will both challenge and comfort you.  It will reveal her unfailing strength and faith.  This woman knows the questions before you ask them, and the answers even better.  She is not afraid of hard work, and she reminds you often that sometimes there is no way out but through.  She is no shrinking violet, always speaking her mind with confident grace.  She has a faith in God that many desire but that few want to believe in, and she practices it every day of her life.  She gives thanks for even the the most difficult of days while always looking for the lessons that God wishes she would understand.  Her character is strong, and her heart pure gold.  Her fingers create things of beauty, never shying away from the hard work it takes to achieve perfection in what they touch..  As if all of these things were not enough, she is the picture of loveliness at almost 83 years.

Mom and #7

Blessed is she with a servant's heart, and it defines who she is and has always been.  She puts others at ease with the simple act of being present while always remaining gracious and humble in doing so.  She is honest and truthful, with a straightforwardness that only years of experience and wisdom can lend.  She has always put her Lord and all others before herself, happily living her life bringing joy and comfort to others.  At an age when others are slowing down, she continues her commitment to her health, her friends, and her job.  She gives her time and talent in countless ways to her church community, generously offering of herself to bring honor to Him.  It is really only recently that she has truly learned what it is to be good to herself, treating herself to a few well-deserved and long overdue vacations.  The treadmill is her friend as is the crowd at the local YMCA, and we all smile knowing that the firemen who exercise there call her by her first name!  She wouldn't know a stranger if she saw one.

She's an amazingly Good Thing.  We get to call her Mom.  As predictable as she is and as well as we think we may know her, she always surprises us.  Ever a virtuous lady and well-mannered woman, she can give Vegas poker players a run for their money.  And to watch her enjoy a cold beer on a Saturday afternoon still makes me smile. She is a true believer in the notion that It's 5 o'clock somewhere, often enjoying a cocktail on vacation when it's only 4:30p.m.!  She is a shrewd businesswoman and isn't easily taken advantage of.  She has a head for money and investments.  She always does her research and you can rest assured she knows what she's talking about! 

A hug from Grandma

She and my dad taught me everything I needed to know in life and more...together.  An unbeatable team they were, powered both by a man brimming with integrity and a woman with seemingly endless strength and determination that stood beside him for 60 years.  During many of their infamous kitchen table discussions, their words sometimes stung but always rang true. Their lectures have echoed in my head often through the years, playing peek-a-boo with me at surprisingly odd times in my life. Applying their wise words to my own life's difficulties reminds me of the anguish and heartache and heart-soaring pride and happiness that, as parents, they surely felt in watching me grow up. They watched my life from the sidelines, helping me learn important lessons as they knowingly let me make painful mistakes. Perhaps the most valuable lessons they taught are ones that had no words.  Their actions, their devotion, and their commitment to each other helped me learn what kind of wife and mother and sister I wanted to be. 

Measuring up until next time!

I realize now how very important a Good Thing can be. It is important who we choose to be with, an important relationship that must be cultivated through trust and honesty, a love that must grow to endure what life sends our way.  Although I haven't ever probably told her that I think all of these things about her, she has to know in her heart what a Good Thing she is.  She does good things with her life, with her gifts, for others and for God.  She was the Best Thing for the man she loved, the most valuable treasure in his life.  In the last few days of their 60 years together, they still loved each other with a whole heart.  To stand back and watch love between my parents was a silent lesson they probably hadn't ever planned to teach.  They looked at each other and their eyes spoke quietly, their gazes revisiting secrets of days past, about things we will never know.  The act of him loving her and her loving him was a lesson in itself.  A good student always pays attention and listens even when words aren't being spoken.

 Their lives remain intertwined, this handsome patrolman and a lovely Good Thing.  The reminder of the best lesson they ever taught still remains a part of her.  Their lives are still bound together by her love for him, and his heart and his choice still shine on her ring finger.  His band of gold, her promise to him, lays beside the lovely diamond he put on her hand 61 years ago last January.  A promise is forever, it is said.  Love is unending.  It's amazing to me how, in a routine traffic stop, a young man could know so much about another person.  But he did. He knew a good thing when he saw her.  She is a Good Thing.