Well, I got home late, and started reading all the wonderful wishes on my birthday. If you are like me you wonder how most people celebrate their birthdays. Some post pictures of cake and parties and the friends and families celebrating their milestones. Some during a round of golf or the day off on the slopes. We rarely ask HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR BIRTHDAY? And even more rarely does anyone tell us... so I am going to break tradition and share my day with those who are even a tad curious. It started Saturday evening when KEN one of my close friends called to invite me to celebrate my birthday with him. One of our close friends who a few months ago lost his house after months of unemployment had taken up residence in a beautiful second story condominium. He had found work, his wife had gone back to work for the county and life seemed good. Then after coming back from work in California three months ago feeling poorly, he went into the hospital for tests. The news wasnt good. Inoperable liver cancer...the growth was very large...and so he started a rehab program that would enable him to receive alternative treatments. After five or six weeks in the hospital and a rehab facility and due to the fact that his NEW JOBS insurance did not yet cover him...he fell behind on his condo payments and in a ten day period he received the necessary legal notices to evict him...On Friday he received his three day notice to Quit. In effect giving him until Monday the 29th at 6:30 pm to vacate the premises or a constable or Sheriff would physically remove he and his wife from the premises and he would forfeit anything left in the residence to pay the two months rent he had been unable to pay. The problem was that he had no money, no options for a new apartment, and just three days to be out of there. Sick, a wife who is emotionally drained...and NO FAMILY to help them. Ken asked me if I could help him find a new location, assist in the financial needs and help move them out...ALL BY 6:30 on my birthday. We had to figure out how much money would be necessary and figure out a way to put it together, and then use it to get a new place...THEN to move them. As you might guess, Sunday was spent in search of ANYWHERE they could get into with difficult credit and no notice...and a house trained dog. Luckily THEY found a friend who would rent them a basement apartment in a small home in West Valley. So we conjured up some money...and planned how we would move them. I asked a 14 year old cousin (thrice removed) of mine to help me for a few bills and he graciously consented to help. Ken went to start packing their two bedroom condo at 8 am I readied my full sized pick up and picked up my cousin about noon and we arrived to load a U-haul, my pick up, Kens pick up and two cars. Ken called another friend who arrived at 3 pm and helped us finish packing the U-haul and my pick-up before he had to return to his scheduled non custodial visit with his two children at 5:30... The condo was empty by 6 and I have to admit that the 43 visits to that second floor condo via 24 stairs from the garage and 28 steps from the front seemed harder at 60 than it seemed for my 14 year old cousin. But not nearly as hard as the 16 visits into that basement apartment via 17 step 1944 stairway. I think the furniture got heavier while it sat in the U-haul! Anyway, by 8:30 we were at the storage unit and completely unloaded. During the day I had about 15 calls to wish me a happy birthday as we emptied the condo and filled that basement apartment. And I talked to some wonderful friends and every one of my kids and my mom. During the last 15 minutes of unloading, my son called to schedule lunch for later in the week. We talked and he was so patient as I interrupted our conversation again and again with interjected instructions or questions to/from Ken or my cousin as we polished off the task... I have to say I have never taken an entire birthday to move before...not even my own stuff. But it turned out to be one of the most wonderful days I can remember. The gratitude, the sense of my time in the lives of these friends was one of the most meaningful feelings I can remember. What I believed as we started would be a tremendous burden, turned out to be an event that flew past in a blink. As I drove home after dropping off the best helper ever...I called Melinda and we talked about tomorrows schedule...and how fortunate we are when we can express real friendship. Ken was totally exhausted but took the time to call me OLD MAN...At various times when I looked over to see him steadying his friend...as we were packing their lives into boxes, or hearing him offer encouragement to a woman who is completely overwhelmed. I was so grateful that I know him...and that he called me to help a little. Why was I so lucky? I think it was so this this couple would realize that we truly do care about them...and so I would realize the importance of just a few real friends. Anyway...sometimes actions mean more than words...sometimes words mean more than actions... today I got one of the greatest gifts I have ever received... A chance to feel and understand the meaning of both. https://youtube/watch?v=Vdrck1RjkdA
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:57:35 +0000
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