Author: gettingofftheinterstate

by Donna Poole

“Daddy, are you sure the air vents are really open?” I hung over the front seat of our 1950 Plymouth to check. Not that I thought Daddy would ever lie to me, but I was perishing of heat exhaustion and dying six-year-old girls aren’t always rational. “Let me see! USE YOUR MUSCLES!”

“Okay, Little Miss Sass Bucket!” He laughed and pushed the handle again, but no more air flowed through.

“Oh, Mama, please…”

“No, Lindy,” she said. “You may not unroll your window any farther. You know how Aunt Wanda is about untidiness, and our hair is messy enough already. Now, why don’t you sit back quietly like Maryann and enjoy the view? Complaining about the heat won’t make it go away. It will just make you feel worse.”

I sighed, scooted back, and looked at Maryann. Even though we were dressed identically down to our sleeveless cotton t-shirts and crinoline petticoats, no one would ever guess we were twins. She was several inches taller. Her hair, smooth and dark like Mama’s, was still in two neat braids, not a hair out of place. My hair, curly and red like Daddy’s, had escaped the rubber bands. I pushed it back out of my eyes and wiped my wet hand on my blue checked dress. The ruffle at the neck was making me sweat.

I noticed Maryann was still wearing the short white gloves we’d worn to church earlier. “Why don’t you take you gloves off? Aren’t you hot?”

She shook her head. “I’m not hot. And Aunt Wanda likes us to wear our gloves.”

Maryann noticed my gloves were missing. “Did you lose them again?” she whispered.

I sighed and nodded. She pulled off one of hers and handed it to me.

“Take one of mine,” she whispered. “Then Aunt Wanda will think we’re only half messy.”

“Aunt Wanda be hanged!” I said loudly.

Mama whipped her head around and looked at me. “Lindy! Wherever did you learn such language?”

I didn’t want to say I’d learned it from Daddy, but his chuckle gave it away. “I’ll be more careful, dear,” he promised. “But your Aunt Wanda really is difficult.”

Poor Daddy. Mama was giving him the look. “My petticoat is too scratchy!” I said loudly. “When I grow up, I won’t wear one. Not Lindy. Not never!”

That captured Mama’s attention, just the way I knew it would, and by the time she’d finished lecturing me about learning to be a proper young lady, we were at Aunt Wanda’s house.

I gave Maryann back her glove. “She’s going to think I’m terrible anyway.”

Aunt Wanda ignored Daddy. She greeted Mama with a kiss on the cheek. She held Maryann at arm’s length and smiled. “You grow more beautiful every time I see you, child.” Then she kissed her on both cheeks.

My turn. Aunt Wanda gripped my shoulders with her scrawny fingers and long nails. She looked me up and down, from the red hair escaping from my braids to the bow on my dress that had come untied to the white sock that had slipped down inside my patent leather shoes.

Aunt Wanda lifted her chin and raised an eyebrow. “Tsk, tsk, child. What has happened to you? You’re a mess!”

“It was hot in the car. I wiggled.”

“Of course you did.” She let go of my shoulders and stepped away from me like I was a distasteful worm. I didn’t care that she didn’t kiss me. The whiskers on her chin were scratchy, and she had bad breath. When she wasn’t looking Uncle Albert gave me a quick hug and two Hershey’s kisses. When he saw me look at Maryann, he gave me two for her too.

“Come, now, everyone. Time to eat. You’re six minutes late, and Sunday dinner is getting cold. Maryann and Lindy, you will sit at the children’s table as always. And remember my table rule, children are to be seen and not heard.”

“Yes, Aunt Wanda,” Maryann said.

“Lindy, what do you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Child, what do you say to my table rule?”

“Nothing. I’m not supposed to be heard.”

Aunt Wanda gasped. Mama put her hand over her heart. Uncle Albert chuckled, and Daddy wiped a grin off his face as soon as Mama looked at him and told him to speak to me.

Daddy gently took my elbow and steered me away from the group. “Watch it, Little Miss Sass Bucket,” he whispered. “There’s a time and place and this is neither. Understand?”

I didn’t really, but I knew he was telling me to behave, so I nodded.

Maryann and I sat at the little table next to the big one that had more than enough room for us and pushed our food around on our plates. It was the same meal as always. Aunt Wanda didn’t cook. She’d gotten this meal the day before at Big Jim’s Carry Out because nothing was open on Sundays. Mama said Big Jim’s had great food when you got it fresh. It wasn’t so good the next day, especially when the salad was wilted, the spaghetti had been warmed up too much, the bread was hard, and the meatballs were burned because Aunt Wanda had forgotten to get them out of the oven.

The conversation was the same as always too. It was actually a monologue, but I didn’t know that word back then.

“Where did you get that dress? I suppose you made it, and the girls’ dresses too. How quaint! And still just a plain thin wedding band and no other jewelry, I see? How quaint! You’re still carrying the same handbag you had when you got married ten years ago? How quaint! You probably don’t have any money to shop with is my guess. I warned you about marrying a man with no ambition, and what is he? Still a postman with the same route as before.”

And suddenly, Sunday wasn’t the same as always. I took my plate and sat under the little table. The long tablecloth covered me completely. Maryann peeked underneath and whispered, “What are you doing?” I held my finger to my lips; she nodded and dropped the tablecloth back down.

I took a few bites, thinking. If children are to be seen and not heard, then maybe it’s okay if they’re heard if they aren’t seen.

I had a talent for imitating voices, but I surprised myself at how much I sounded like Aunt Wanda. “A mama who loves her girls and makes them beautiful matching dresses. How wonderful! A mama who makes good food, not wilted day old salad and mushy spaghetti. How nice! A mama who never says bad things about people like her aunt does. How quaint! A family where everyone loves the daddy and doesn’t care how much money he makes. And a family who comes to see a nice uncle and a mean old aunt with whiskers on her chin because she’s lonely, and they feel sorry for her. How quaint!”

And then I started to cry. I could hear Maryann start to cry. Then Daddy lifted the tablecloth and picked me up. “Come on, dear,” he said to mama. “We’re going home now.”

“But what about Aunt Wanda?” Mama asked.

“Aunt Wanda be hanged!” Maryann shouted in a voice bigger than I knew she had.

The room was silent for a moment. Then I heard a funny cackling noise. It took me a second to realize it was a laugh and a moment longer to realize it was coming from Aunt Wanda.

“If I apologize will everyone please sit back down and finish dinner?” Then Aunt Wanda got out of her chair and apologized to every single person including Uncle Albert.

When she got to me, she asked, “Do I really have whiskers on my chin?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you for telling me. I don’t see as well as I used to. I imagine when you’re an old lady you’d like someone to tell you if you had whiskers on your chin.”

“I would. Your whiskers are very scratchy.”

Aunt Wanda laughed again, bent over, and kissed my cheek. “Where did you get this one?” she asked Mama. “She reminds me of me.”

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, Aunt Wanda, but you were making Mama cry. I could hear her crying inside.”

Aunt Wanda blinked away a tear. “You have a gift,” she said so quietly only I could hear. “Just pray to God it doesn’t turn mean.”

When Maryann and I started to sit at the little table Aunt Wanda said, “Oh no you don’t, girls. You’ve earned your place at the grown-up table.”

Daddy pulled out our chairs for us like we were real ladies. When he pushed mine in, he whispered, “Apparently this was the time and place, Little Miss Sass Bucket, but we’re still going to have a talk on the way home.”

I nodded and smiled. I didn’t care. The world looked like a different place from this table. And that was the last time in my life I ever heard Aunt Wanda use the word “quaint.”

And I did what Aunt Wanda said. I didn’t know what kind of gift I had, but every night when I went to bed, I prayed it wouldn’t turn mean.

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

If a calendar hung on the wall, it said the year was 1953, but I couldn’t read it. I couldn’t read until halfway through second grade, and I was only in kindergarten in 1953. I don’t recall the month; we moved partway through kindergarten, and it was my first day at Fall Creek School in Ithaca, New York. I can’t remember the date either, but I was about to learn some lessons I never forgot.

Whatever schoolwork we were doing seemed difficult to me, and it probably was, because even a few years later I still had trouble distinguishing between the letters m, n, q, d, b, and p. The number 2 looked like a letter to me. I remember feeling nervous that first day. When the teacher said it was snack time and gave everyone a little cardboard container of milk I was thrilled. She sat my milk down and said, “In this classroom we drink all of our milk, every drop.”

I spotted a dead fly floating in my milk and tried to show her. “But…”

“No excuses!” She sounded scary stern.

Blinking back tears, I carefully positioned my straw and drank every drop of that milk except for a tiny circle at the bottom where the dead fly lay with all its body parts still attached, or so I hoped.

After more exhausting schoolwork, it was playtime. I’d been looking all morning at the most wonderful playhouse I’d ever seen. It sat in the corner of the room, and when the teacher said to go play, I headed right for it.

Just as I was about to duck my head and enter the fairy tale mystery of what might be inside, a rough hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back.

“You can’t go in there.”

“Yeah!” Other childish voices chimed in. “You can’t come in here. You’re the new kid.”

I looked around. Where should I go? Would I get into trouble with the teacher if I went back to my desk?

Another voice said, “Yes, she can come in the playhouse. She’s my friend, and I say she can!”

“Okay, Maureen!” the children agreed.

A small hand took mine. I looked into the smiling face of a little girl with dark brown curls and bright blue eyes, Maureen O’Riley. I’d found a friend I’d done nothing to earn or deserve, but she was a true friend until we moved away after I finished fourth grade. I soon learned with Maureen as a friend, all the others were suddenly my friends too, but even at the young age of five, I knew enough to tell a real friend from a pretend one.

I told my new friend about having to drink the horrible milk and trying not to swallow fly legs or wings.

“That was silly,” Maureen said. “You should have told the teacher. She wouldn’t have made you drink the milk.”

I wish I could remember more about Maureen O’Riley. I know we always played together on the playground. I don’t remember any of our conversations, and I don’t think we ever went to each other’s homes outside of school. But Maureen was my first school friend, and I’ll never forget her.

We need friends. It’s a beautiful road we’re walking toward Home, fragrant with springtime flowers, joyful with the songs of birds, and lovely with rolling green hills. It’s a brutal path we’re walking toward Home, dangerous with blizzard winds, blinding snow, and frozen tears.

“When good friends walk beside us on the trails that we must keep, Our burdens seem less heavy, And the hills are not so steep. The weary miles pass swiftly, Taken in a joyous stride, And all the world seems brighter, When friends walk by our side.” –Author unknown

I think we sometimes limit the possibilities of friendship with artificial boundaries.

Friends can be family; some of my closest ones are. Friends can be old or young. When I was a young mother some of my friends were senior citizens. When I became a senior citizen, I had a friend who was a teenager.

David and Jonathan, I think theirs is one of the sweetest friendships in the Bible. They didn’t really have much in common when they became friends. David was a sheep farmer’s son; Jonathan was the son of King Saul. David was a teenager who played a harp; Jonathan was a much older military commander. Some Bible scholars say he was twenty or even thirty years older than David. So, what made them kindred spirits? Why did Jonathan love David “as he loved his own soul?” –I Samuel 20:17 Why did he care so much about David that he later on risked his own life to protect David against his father’s murderous plot?

Perhaps what drew the two men together, one a very young shepherd, the other a brave warrior, was courage and trust in God. When Jonathan met David, David, with incredible faith and courage, had just killed a giant who had terrified seasoned soldiers. Perhaps Jonathan felt an instant bond with David because he shared the same kind of faith and courage. Jonathan and the man who carried his armor showed amazing courage when they accepted a Philistine’s taunt to come up and fight. They fought, and the two of them decimated the outpost.

I imagine David and Jonathan felt a bit like this: “It’s a wonderful thing to come upon one who knows what you mean. It’s just like heaven.” –George MacDonald

“The typical expression of opening friendship would be something like, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.’”—C.S. Lewis

“The best friendship is friendship to the soul.” –Matthew Henry

The best and last thing Jonathan did for David was to strengthen his hand in God.

I’ve been blessed with good friends during my long life, and I thank them for strengthening my faith. Several of them are in heaven, and I picture them as part of my welcome Home committee. There was, however, a time when I had no close friends. I remember sitting on the couch with John and describing my ideal friend and telling him how lonely I felt.

He agreed with me we both needed friends, held my hand, and prayed God would give us friends.

Then, problem solved, he said, “If you can’t find that kind of friend, be that kind of friend to someone else.” He kissed the top of my head and wandered off to do whatever it was he was doing at the time. I can’t remember now what it was, because it was almost a half century ago. God answered the prayer, and the friends he gave us back then are our friends still. We treasure them more the older we get.

A friend in her late eighties called yesterday to share some good news. “I told God about it already,” she said, “but I need God with skin on.”

I knew just what she meant. God didn’t make us to be solitary. We all need a Maureen O’Riley, someone to tell us we don’t have to drink milk with dead flies in it, someone to stick up for us against life’s bullies, and someone to be faithful. We all need a Jonathan, someone God uses to make the walk Home a little easier.  

And Maureen O’Riley, if by chance you’re reading this, don’t worry. I don’t drink milk with flies in it. I don’t drink it at all when I can help it! I still see legs and wings!

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

It was coffee and “meet and greet” time, the half hour between Sunday school and church. The flavor must be mocha today; it smelled heavenly, but Elsie sat where she was. It took too much effort to stand and navigate with her walker back to the counter where the hospitality group served coffee, donuts, and smiles. Instead, she did one of the few activities left to her with her limited mobility; she people watched.

It was fun seeing the children come out of Sunday school carrying homemade valentines, soggy with too much glue, and proudly present them to someone they loved. None came to her, of

The last time Elsie had held a valentine in her hands had been ten years ago just before Harry had died.

Harry had celebrated Valentine’s Day every year. Their first year, a lean one, he’d made her a valentine, put a tablecloth on the table, set out their best dishes, and served her dinner by candlelight. True, the dinner had been just peanut butter sandwiches; they were all out of jelly. And the music was him singing, “More” in an off-key imitation of Andy Williams, but he’d done it all with tender sincerity, and it had made her cry. And he’d managed to bring happy tears to her eyes for fifty-nine more Valentine Days. She still had the last valentine, number sixty. On the hospital napkin he’d drawn hearts and had written, “I love you more every year. Would you marry me again?”

She kept the last valentine in her Bible, next to I Corinthians 13:8, where it says, “Love never fails.” Harry’s love had never failed. It still warmed her heart, but ten years is a long time not to hear a single person say, “I love you.”

She and Harry had never had children. And they’d both been only children themselves, so there were no nieces and nephews to call and say, “Aunt Elsie, I love you.” How she missed those three words. She expected she’d never hear them again until she got to heaven, and she hoped that would be soon. Ten years can be a long time. Ten years alone can feel longer than sixty years together.

God’s love was a great comfort. She whispered one of her favorite quotes to herself as conversation flowed around her. She’d found it in a book by Hannah Hurnard she’d read once. “For He loves each one of us as though there were only one to love.”

God’s love should be enough, Elsie. And it is enough. But surely God understands how I’d love to hear a person say it.

Elsie shivered and pulled her sweater tighter around her frail shoulders. It’s cold in here today. I wish I’d stayed home. At ninety years old, no one would blame me for not attending church in the winter. But I do want to keep coming as long as I can.

She felt a small hand touch her shoulder. “Miss Elsie?”

She looked up into Becky’s sparkling brown eyes. Red bows adorned the little girl’s long brown braids today, perhaps in honor of Valentine’s Day.

“Miss Elsie, this is for you!”

Becky handed her an adorable paper bag. The sides were red and white stripes, and the front had a red heart with an arrow through it. Elsie fingered the red and white braided handles. She looked inside the bag and saw four cookies. Two of them had pink frosting.

“Thank you, Becky! Did you help your mom make the cookies?”

Becky shook her head, and the braids swung side to side. “No. They aren’t from us. I don’t know who they’re from. I found the bag on the gift table and brought it to you.”

“Oh, honey, the cookies probably aren’t for me. You better put the bag back on the gift table.”

“It is for you!” Becky insisted. She turned the bag around and read the tag, “Elsie, Happy Valentine’s Day! You are loved and prayed for.”

“How very kind!” Elsie blinked back a few tears. “It says I’m loved.”

“Course it says that. Everyone loves you. I love you too!” Becky hugged her. “Do you want me to get you some coffee? I can carry it without spilling it if someone puts a lid on it for me.”

“I’d love a cup of coffee.” Now tears were running down Elsie’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Becky looked like she was going to cry herself.

“Nothing, honey. It’s just that I’m happy to be loved. I love you too.”

“Okay. Grownups cry about funny things.”

Becky skipped off to get the coffee, and the auditorium didn’t feel quite so chilly anymore to Elsie.

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

I wonder why someone picked the month of February to celebrate Optimist Day. Perhaps they picked it because February, at least if you live in Michigan, tests to the limit your Pollyanna attitude!

So, on Optimist Day, February 6, 2025, I want to tell you my favorite optimist joke. An optimist fell off the roof of a high rise. When he passed the tenth floor on his way down, he was heard to be shouting, “So far, so good!”

I’m an optimist. Usually. Sometimes I fall out of my Pollyanna tree. It was easier to feel optimistic when I was a child, not that I had a perfect life, but that’s a tale to tell another time. Back then my life had the boundaries of home, church, and grade school in the charming town of Ithaca, New York. I bounced through the sunshine of life in a bubble.

Life had a predictability I could count on. I knew nothing about world hunger or suffering. It was the golden era of the 1950s, and we had no television, and a radio we seldom used.

Hurricane Hazel came roaring through town when I was six years old. I didn’t realize the danger and was fascinated with the little I could see of the storm in the twilight. I remember hanging over the couch as close to the window as I could get, watching the trees bend low in the wind. They looked like they were dancing. Dad grabbed me and told me to stay away from the window. Little did I guess the wild wind that intrigued me would take 95 lives and do $282 million damage in the United States, $100 million in Canada, and cause up to 1,000 deaths in Haiti. No one told me. To me, Hazel was just an exciting storm that roared in my ears and made the trees dance.

Life was an adventure in my grade school years. My sister Mary and I walked a few to school where I adored my classmates and teachers. On grocery day I dragged Mary home, making her run when she wanted to walk, because who knew? Perhaps Mom had gotten us a present at the store. She’d never gotten us one before, a fact my sister pointed out week after week. But logic didn’t deter my eternal optimism. There was always hope. This might be the week some small gift awaited us, and we should hurry home and get it!

On Sunday mornings we had Sunday school teachers who loved children and made the Bible stories come alive. On Sunday evenings we sat in the pew with our parents and felt happy and safe. Across the aisle was old Mr. Jenkins who week after week fell asleep and pushed his glasses from his nose, microscopic inch by inch, to the top of his head. It was fascinating to watch. Would the glasses fall off? And why did Mrs. Jenkins never wake him? Neither thing ever happened; it would have disrupted the pattern of the magical place I knew as church. Sometimes Martha with the red hair sang a special in a high vibrato, and Mary and I stifled giggles. That earned us spankings when we got home from church.

Life had lots of room for sidewalk roller skates, hopscotch, hula hoops, marbles, jump ropes, and a dilapidated red scooter Mary and I took turns on. There was a pogo stick; I can’t remember if it belonged to us or to a neighbor. If it rained, we had paper dolls, and sometimes a piece of dough to roll out until it turned black and grimy. And we had books. I didn’t just read my books; I lived the lives of the boys and girls in them. Every day of my life I woke up thinking something wonderful was going to happen, and every day it did.

No one we knew was sick or dying. Yes, tears and tragedy happened at home when Mom got out the belt, but sorrow was quickly forgotten with our next adventure. We weren’t rich kids and didn’t have much to wear; two cotton dresses lasted one school year. Sometimes we were a little hungry after a meal, but we didn’t think anything of it. We were never close to malnutrition or homelessness. Life was good when I was six and seven, eight and nine.

And then I learned the pain of saying goodbye to people I cared about, and I cried a new kind of tears, ones I’d never cried before. We left Ithaca, my school, my church, and hardest of all, my oldest sister, Eve. She stayed behind. I learned something else new too. Tears can make rainbows. The next few years became the happiest of my childhood. We lived in a remote area near Taberg, New York, and Mary and I grew taller, browner, and happier. We never came inside unless we had to. Our little sister, Ginny, was too young to enjoy the wild area the way we did. We climbed the foothills of the mountains, swam in the creek, climbed trees, ice skated, tobogganed, and made enough memories to last a lifetime.

When those years too ended because of another move, I was beginning to learn a grown-up lesson. Nothing we love in this world lasts forever. That stretched my optimism a bit thin. Eventually, I grew up, as all little girls must. The ugly side of life smacked me in the face like it does everyone. I’ve suffered; people I love have suffered, and people I don’t know have suffered horror I can’t even imagine.

I’ve often prayed this Grace Noll Crowell prayer: “God, make me brave for life: oh, braver than this. Let me straighten after pain, As a tree straightens after the rain, Shining and lovely again. God, make me brave for life; much braver than this. As the blown grass lifts, let me rise From sorrow with quiet eyes, Knowing Thy way is wise. God, make me brave, life brings Such blinding things. Help me to keep my sight; Help me to see aright That out of dark comes light.”

I’m not seven anymore, though the memory of childish laughter from that year still makes me smile. This year I’ll be seventy-seven, and I’m still an optimist. Why? I see the darkness, but I notice it disappears when the sun rises. I feel winter’s chill in my old bones, but I know spring always comes. What will win in the end? Will sorrow, sickness, hatred, suffering, death, cruelty triumph? They will not! Those things have an expiration date; they are already dying, though we can’t see it.

For the Christian, for those who have trusted Jesus for eternal life, the future is full of joyful “Will Be’s.” Darkness will be swallowed up in light. Sorrow will be swallowed up in joy. Hatred will be swallowed up in love.  Death will be swallowed up in victory. Winter will be swallowed up in eternal spring. And tears will be swallowed up in laughter.  

So, I’m that optimist. I might look like I’ve fallen off a high rise, but I’m shouting, “So far, so good!”

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

“George, I’m leaving you a cup of soup on your work bench. Don’t let it get cold, honey.”

“Thank you, Forty-eight,” he murmured as he held the tape measure against the length of wood he was cutting.

Florence leaned against the door frame of his workshop and grinned. So today my name is Forty-eight. Yesterday, when his mouth was full of nails, I do believe he called me Hammer.

She never knew what name he might call her when he was preoccupied. Her least favorite was Sandpaper. For a few minutes, Florence watched her husband of fifty years. White curls, once blond, tumbled on his forehead. He had deep crinkles around his blue eyes from squinting at his work, and smile lines because he was seldom without a smile. And sure enough, a stub of a pencil was tucked behind his left ear. A piece of wood was never just a piece of wood to him. Had ever a man loved his work more or put more of himself into it? She doubted it. The one thing she did know was this. The soup was going to get cold.

She closed the door between the workshop and the kitchen and shivered. She’d take George a jacket, but she knew he wouldn’t wear it. He insisted he was never cold, though just the last few months she’d noticed he’d liked going to bed earlier than normal and he’d sighed deeply when he’d pulled up the thick quilt.

George never complained, but she knew his back and neck hurt constantly. Because of fifty years spent hunched over his workbench, he could no longer stand up straight. And his hands, once young and strong, were gnarled and twisted with arthritis. But still he kept working, and she understood why, perhaps better than he did himself. His work was a part of himself, and it was how he gave love. Sometimes she wished he’d retire, but she doubted he ever would.

Florence had known from the first year she’d married him that George was a genius. His original designs were breathtaking and his finished wood products flawless. But after a few years she’d given up trying to get him to climb higher in his craft. He was content to stay in their little town, working in his tiny shop, sharing his beautiful creations with friends, and barely eking out a living.

The door between the shop and the kitchen opened and that boyish grin, somehow not out of place on the wrinkled face, still managed to make her day.

“Florence, your soup is delicious, but it’s cold.”

“So, you do know my name isn’t Forty-eight?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Sit here at the table while I warm up your soup.”

George talked while he ate, almost letting his soup get cold again, as he waved his hands and drew with his pencil on his napkin showing her what the bookcase for Margaret and Vance was going to look like.

Florence raised an eyebrow and whistled when he told her the three kinds of wood he was using. “Pricy! Won’t that go over the estimate you gave them?”

He chuckled. “Way over, but I’ll never tell them. You know what good friends they are. And I bet they’ve got a piece of my furniture in every room of their house. I want this to be something extra special for them. Margaret didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the last piece they commissioned me to make. She acted, I don’t know, almost indifferent.”

And she’s seemed a little indifferent about our friendship lately too, but maybe I’m just imagining things. I’m not going to say that to George. It would break his heart.

“I don’t suppose she’ll ever guess how much time and love you put into your work, honey, or how much sleep you miss, or how you work through pain. Speaking of pain, how’s your thumb feeling?”

There was that boyish grin again. “Don’t know how I ever managed to saw my own thumb half-off.” He held up the thickly bandaged thumb and shook his head at it. “Well, can’t say as it feels good, yet, Florence, but it’s not going to stop me from getting this bookcase finished by the date I promised.”

He stood to go back to work, cleared his throat, and hesitated. “I don’t just do my jobs for people, you know.”

Florence nodded and smiled. This was hard for George. He expressed his feelings with actions, not words.

“I work for Jesus. I like it that he was a carpenter. Sometimes it feels like he’s working in the shop with me. I think I hear him say I did good. Silly, isn’t it?”

Flornce hugged him. “It’s not silly at all. I think it’s one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said.”

When the delivery day arrived, George acted like a kid going to a birthday party. He slicked back his white curls, not that they’d stay that way, and put on his best overalls, the ones with blue and white pin stripes. He asked Florence to step into his woodshop for a final inspection before Mike, the teenager from next door, helped him load the bookcase into his truck.

The maple, cherry, and mahogany gleamed with their simple finish, and the teak trim work at the top of each shelf was exquisite. Florence caught her breath, stood on tip toe, and kissed his cheek. “George, this might be your best work yet. I think it’s your masterpiece.”

He blushed. “I can’t wait to see their faces, especially Margaret’s. I expect she’ll have a long list of projects for me to work on next. Well, you ready, Mike?”

An hour later they returned, and George spoke barely above a whisper. “I think I’m getting sick, Florence. I gotta go to bed.”

She started to follow him, but Mike stopped her. “Wait. What should I do with the bookcase?”

“Didn’t you leave it with Margaret and Vance?”

“Naw, it was awful. That Margaret lady? She said she’s tired of George’s style of work, and she’s found a new carpenter she likes better. She met us out at the truck. Wouldn’t even let us onload the bookcase. I felt so bad for George. He didn’t say a word all the way home. I know his stuff is kind of old fashioned, but it’s beautiful. I don’t think there’s many people left who can do stuff with wood the way he does. When we got back here, he told me to leave the bookshelf in the truck, but we’re supposed to get freezing rain.”

Florence grabbed a jacket. “Come on. I’ll help you carry it inside.”

“You? Aren’t you kind of…sorry. But aren’t you kind of old? That thing is heavy!”

“I’m stronger than I look,” Florence said. She patted Mike’s arm. “Love gives you strength to do what you have to do. You remember that.”

Florence was so upset she thought her adrenaline could have helped her carry the truck inside, but fortunately she didn’t have to put it to the test. Mike’s dad was in the driveway and helped his son unload the bookcase. He snorted when Mike told him the story.

“You get more gratitude and loyalty from dogs than you do some people. Hey, I just thought of something. You people are religious, right?”

“I wouldn’t call us religious, exactly,” Florence said, “but yes, we love Jesus.”

“Jesus was a carpenter. Probably not everyone liked his stuff either. They sure didn’t all like his preaching! You tell George that for me, okay? Might help him feel better.”

Florence told George that and a lot more, but nothing helped. He locked the door to the workshop.

“I’m done,” he said. “I gave my best. I gave more than I had to give, and it wasn’t enough.” And then he cried. Florence hadn’t seen him cry since early in their marriage when their only child, a son, had been stillborn. Florence held him. She prayed for him. Nothing helped. He prowled the house at night and slept most of the day. He ate sometimes but not enough. He listed his tools for sale, but no one bought them. The door to the workshop stayed locked.

At five o’clock one morning Florence woke to a terrible racket. She ran to the kitchen, and the door to the workshop was open. George was attacking the bookcase with a Sawzall. Wood was falling to the floor; the beautiful bookcase was destroyed.

“George!” She hardly recognized the terrified scream as her own. Trembling, she leaned against the door frame and covered her mouth with her hands.

He turned and looked at her. He was wearing his best overalls, the blue and white pin striped ones. His white curls had tumbled down on his forehead, and he was smiling. A pencil was tucked behind his left ear.

“What’s wrong with you, Thirty inches?” he asked. He gestured at a neatly stacked pile of boards he’d already sawed from the former bookcase. “I’m kind of busy out here. I’m making something for my new client.”

“Your new client?”

“Harry, the undertaker, called me late last night. A young couple lost a baby boy, stillborn, and they can’t afford a casket. He asked what I’d charge to make one. I told him nothing. I’m making as many little caskets as I can out of this wood. He said they can be thirty inches, and some as small as ten inches.”

He swiped at the tears in his eyes with the back of his gnarled hand.

“George,” Florence said softly, “I think the other Carpenter missed you working out here.”

“I missed him too,” he said. “I hope when I finish making these, he’ll say I did good. But right now, I’m kinda hungry. You suppose we could have soup for breakfast?”

“If you chop the vegetables.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Your thumb is healed now, isn’t it?”

George held it up and grinned at it. “Guess it is. And my stomach is growling. Let’s go.”

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

Once upon a time in the land of Not Far Away there lived a baby girl with huge brown eyes and light brown curls. Before God sent her to earth, he told the angels, “I give everyone a gift to take down with them. I’m going to give this one something extraordinary. It will bring her great joy, but it will also break her heart.”

The angels stopped cooing over the big brown eyes and looked at God astonished. “Why would you give her something that will break her heart?”

God smiled sadly. “Because the world needs it so much.”

And so, he kissed the cheek of the baby, put his own hand over her heart, and sent her down to earth with an extraordinary amount of love for her family and for all his creatures great and small.

The baby was born into a family with three much older siblings, and she adored them. As each one went off to college, it broke her heart. She missed them terribly and didn’t want to be alone in her room. She begged her mom to let her have a cat, a dog, a horse, and an elephant. She didn’t get any of those, but her yard was full of wild, mangy barn cats with no one to love them. She sat in the grass and tamed each one. Her lap was often full of cats and kittens, and when each one died, her heart broke again. The cats belonged to neighbors, not to her, but her mom told her that because of her they died happy. They died knowing they were loved, and that is something not everyone gets to know.

The little girl did want one thing that wasn’t alive. Some of her friends had American Girl dolls, and she adored them. She never asked for one though, because her dad was a pastor of a little church and didn’t have much money. She was a strange little girl. She never asked for anything, and saved every penny, nickel, and dime she got to buy something for her parents or her siblings.

The girl’s mom knew she wanted that doll, and she scrimped and saved until she finally had enough money to buy Molly or Samantha, the dolls the girl had longed to own for so long.

The problem was it had taken so long to get the money that the little girl wasn’t so little anymore. By then she was thirteen. And when her mother told her she could choose her doll, she didn’t get the ecstatic response she’d expected. Instead, she got a small, hesitant smile.

“Oh, honey, are you too old for the doll now?” The mom felt like crying. This girl who loved and gave so much had outgrown the one thing she’d wanted.

“Oh, no, Mom! That isn’t it! I’d still love the doll, but there’s something I want more!”

She showed her mom an advertisement in the paper. Purebred AKC registered Golden Retriever puppies for sale! With papers.

“If I could get a puppy Mom, I could love her, and train her, and when she was old enough, I could breed her. I could sell the puppies and save money for college!”

And so, the mom, dad, and girl traveled an hour from their country home to the city to look at the puppies.

The girl took one look at one of the puppies and the puppy flew into her arms. Only after she was sitting on the floor cuddling the puppy did the women selling it confess that the puppies were not AKC registered and didn’t have papers.

“But I’m sure if you did research you could get papers. I promise you the puppy’s father is from a long, impressive line of registered dogs.”

Sure, lady, and you’re lying through your dentures the mom thought but didn’t say. Instead, she sat on the floor next to her daughter, who would always be her little girl, even when she was an old lady. “Honey, you won’t be able to breed her and sell her puppies. You won’t be able to make money for college.”

“I don’t care, Mom. I love her! Please, can I buy her?”

The mom and dad didn’t know much about dogs, but they knew the woman was asking too much and had placed a misleading ad. They tried to get her to come down in price. The woman might have been a crook, but she was a crafty one. She saw the love in the girl’s eyes for the puppy and the love in the parents’ eyes for the girl. She had her fish on a hook, and she wasn’t budging.

And so, the puppy who was too much came home with the girl who some might say loved too much, but she was just doing what God made her to do. She named her puppy Cassey. Cassey was a golden alright, but the retriever part was a joke! She never returned a single stick anyone threw for her. She’d run after it, but then she’d be in too much of a hurry to run back to love the person, especially if the person was her girl.

That puppy grew up to be the most lovable, worst specimen of a golden you ever saw. Despite years of training at Dog 4-H Cassey never learned to do anything right except love her human. Everything else she did too much of. She ran when she should walk. She bounced when she should stand still. She misbehaved at every 4-H dog show, but everyone loved her, and she loved everyone.

At one show the girl’s brother determined she was going to have a chance to win. He took the golden and ran her all over the fairgrounds until she was exhausted. And onlookers were amazed in the show. Cassey was standing, not running, or bouncing. She was behaving! She didn’t have energy left to misbehave. Then came the final event of the show, the long stay.

“Sit, Cassey,” the girl said, “stay.” and all the other dog owners told their dogs the same. Then the kids walked a distance from their dogs and stood in line.

By then most of the onlookers knew the girl and Cassey. There was collective breath holding. They were watching a miracle in action! Cassey was staying.

Cassey looked with longing eyes at her beloved owner. Then she dropped to the ground and army-crawled all the way to her, stood, leaned into her, and looked up at her with so much love. Onlookers laughed. Cassey didn’t get a ribbon, because the dog show didn’t give a best-in-class ribbon to the dog who loved most.

Back in 2013, when Cassey was twelve, her girl, all grown-up now, wrote this. “I don’t think goodbyes ever get easier. Today I had to make the decision to put down my baby. I got her when she was only four weeks old, and while we had twelve years together, it really didn’t feel like it was enough. I wanted so badly when I went to see her at the animal hospital today for her to jump up and wag her tail, but it took everything in her just to sit up. She laid her head in my lap like she used to when she was a puppy and licked my hand. I wasn’t going to stay while the vet put her down, but when I went to stand up (after crying all over the poor dog) she tried to follow me and gave me the most pathetic look when she couldn’t. So, I sat back down, held her, and she put her head in my hands. Then she was gone. I’m so glad she isn’t suffering anymore, but I’m heartbroken that she’s gone.”

The girl’s mother watched her sit with her dying dog and cried out to God, “It’s too hard for her. It’s too much.”

And God whispered, “Hush. That’s what love does. It does too much.”

I know this really happened once upon a time in the land of Not Far Away. Cassey died in 2013, and the mother is still crying as she writes this. Someday, God will wipe away all tears. Someday, dogs like Cassey and girls who love too much will never suffer again, but that day is not today.

And God understands the pain of those who love too much. After all, he does it too.

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author

by Donna Poole

“Happy New Year, dear.” Ken kissed her cheek, and she rubbed where his rough whiskers had scratched.

Cathy groaned and rolled over. “Do we have to go to that party today?”

“You know Joey will be broken hearted if we don’t.”

“I can’t understand why the pastor would schedule a party on a day when people would rather be home with their families. This is Terry’s last New Year’s with us. Next year he’ll be in college, and Will the year after him.”

Ken patted her back. “Do you suppose the pastor might wish he could stay home with his family today too, kick back, eat a few snacks, and watch football?”

Cathy laughed. “Ken, he doesn’t know a football from a basketball.”

Ken chuckled. “I know. Still, maybe he’d rather stay home. But it isn’t every day when someone turns 100 years old, and everyone loves Benjamin, especially Joey. We should go, but we won’t if you don’t want to.”

She sighed and got out of bed. “We might as well go. Will and Terry will probably disappear somewhere with friends if we stay home. At least this way the five of us will be in the same place for a few hours.”

Random thoughts chased each other through Cathy’s head as Ken made toast. and she scrambled a dozen eggs.

We’ve had barely any time as a family this whole Christmas break. First both sets of parents showed up for a week. I love them, but that was exhausting, especially when my siblings decided we should have family Christmas here. “You have the biggest house. You don’t mind, do you?” Then Janie and Bill asked if their kids could stay with us while the two of them went away for the weekend. Now our kids will be back in school in just a few days and that hectic schedule of trying to keep up with all their activities begins all over again. And soon Terry will be off to college and our family will never be the same again. Ken is hinting perhaps his folks should move in with us, and he’s probably right. His mom fell when they were here. So much to worry about. And money? Oh, don’t even go there, girl!

But she did. She played the numbers game while she flipped the eggs. Ken was older than she was, and his sixty-one years were starting to show on him. She sometimes wondered how long he’d be able to keep working. He’d worked for a small business all his life. He loved the work but had no retirement. Zero. Zip. Perhaps they could have saved more, but looking back she didn’t see how. And Joey, a surprise blessing born when she’d been forty, was going to require long term care. He’d live with them until they died. Ken would probably die long before she did, how would she care for Joey then?

Joey was the first boy down the stairs. “Hi, Mama! Look! I’m ready for the party!”

Tears sprang to Cathy’s eyes at the proud smile on Joey’s face. At six years old he functioned at about age three, and specialists said he’d probably plateau at the functional age of seven and go no further.

“You look great, Joey! Let me just straighten your shirt a bit.”

He’d buttoned only two of the six buttons, and they were in the wrong holes. His shoes were on the wrong feet.

“After breakfast you might want to put on jeans. It’s kind of cold out to wear shorts to the party, honey.”

“Okay, Mama! Do I have to wait for my brudders? I’m kinda hungry!”

Cathy laughed and scooped a pile of eggs on his plate. “You go ahead and pray and eat.”

“God is great. God is good. And we thank him for our food. And we thank him for Mr. Benjamin’s party. Woo hoo! Amen.”

Ken grinned and hugged his son. “You love Mr. Benjamin, don’t you?”

“Yep. We’re brudders.”

“What?”

“Yep. He says Benjamin and Joseph were brudders in the Bible so we’re brudders.”

“Oh, that’s right. And Rachel was their mother.”

“I dunno. But me and Mr. Benjamin are brudders. I’m gonna give him the new coloring book and crayons I got for Christmas. Can I have more eggs, Mama? I’m still hungry.”

Ken looked at the pan and laughed. “Let’s let your mama sit awhile. She’s been awfully tired lately. I’ll scramble some more eggs so Terry and Will have enough to eat too.”

Cathy sighed. I never want the boys to feel hungry, but why do eggs have to cost four dollars a dozen?

Time flew as it always does, and they barely got to church in time for the party. Only after they were there did Cathy realize Joey’s shoes were still on the wrong feet.

The fellowship hall was full. It seemed Ken was right; everyone did love Benjamin, but none more than Joey. Joey grinned and clapped his hands when Benjamin pronounced the coloring book and crayons his favorite gift, and Cathy knew he was telling the truth. It was his favorite, even though the church had collected money and put it in an envelope he’d already opened. He’d thanked them profusely, but the thank you to Joey came with his tears.  

“Benjamin, before you blow out the candles on your cake, would you say a few words of wisdom to all of us?” the pastor asked.

Cathy sighed inwardly. Here it comes. A too cheerful speech from Mr. Pollyanna. Just what I don’t need today.

Benjamin got to his feet with a little help from bystanders. “I want you all to know I’ve had a hard life, a very difficult life full of terrible things.”

He paused and Cathy stared at him. The rest of the crowd sat in stunned silence. This was not what they’d expected.

“Yes, indeed, folks, terrible things, but ninety-nine percent of them never happened.”

Then he slapped his hands together and roared with laughter. “You see, I spent a lot of time worrying about things that might happen that never did. Then when I was a kid of about sixty or so I decided to face the future with faith not fear. I discovered tomorrow is none of my business, so I’d let God take care of it. He hasn’t let me down yet. Now, it hasn’t been all sunshine. It was terribly hard when I lost Helen. Other things have been difficult too, but my life has had so much joy. Yours can be too, if you face the future with faith and say goodbye to fear.”

Benjamin sat down and smiled at the sheet cake shining with one-hundred candles. “I need help blowing out these candles before we set the place on fire! Where’s my little brother?”

Joey ran to his side, his shoes still on the wrong feet. “I’m right here, Mr. Benjamin!”

Cathy thought she’d never forget the sight of the two faces pressed close together, the wrinkled old man and the little boy. And she’d try to remember. Faith, not fear.

“Ken, tomorrow really isn’t any of my business, is it?”

He laughed and hugged her. “Happy New Year, dear.” And then, right there in church, he kissed her. But no one noticed. They were all clapping for the two brothers blowing out one-hundred candles.

The end

***

These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:

Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

Backroad Ramblings Volume Four: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter

I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.

Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author