Three Car Garage and We Need More Space

One of my new favorite cable shows is Clean House. The premise of the show is this. Families call in or some "loved one" calls in for them, and the Clean House crew comes out to see what kind of mess the family's house has become after months if not years of neglect. After some free in-home counseling, the crew cleans out the house, has a huge yard sale and uses the money earned to refurbish the house to the family's liking. Sounds like a great idea, however, you do have to live in the Los Angeles area.

Each morning as I walk through my neighborhood, I can't help but notice there are houses with two and sometimes three car garages and all of the cars are sitting out in the driveway. That usually means the garages are packed full with stuff. When you think about that a moment it tends not to make a lot of sense. We fill our garage space with Christmas decorations, high school yearbooks, and encyclopedias that even the flea markets won't take off our hands. All the while our $30,000 cars, trucks and SUVs whether the elements out in the driveway.

So how does something like this happen? Well to start with we find just what we want or something that we certainly can not part with, and we hang on to it forever. Before long, we find the next best thing so that "something we can't do without" finds its way to the closet. From there it is just a short trip to the attic. Once the attic is full and we need more stuff, we start moving stuff to the garage. When we are no longer able to maneuver around the stuff to get into our car something has to give, so of course the vehicle has to go. Now what? You would think a call to Junk-be-Gone would be in order, but no not us. We find the nearest storage company and actually rent space to put more stuff.

One of the greatest benefits to moving every so often is the purging that takes place. After moving some boxes from one location to the next it becomes abundantly clear that it is time to use what is in that box or get rid of it. Sometimes its best not to know what is in the box, and just let it go. Oh there are some things along the journey that we want and even need to keep. And then there are some things that just need to make their way to someone else's garage or the nearest landfill. Better yet, go green and call Clean House and have them come work their magic at your place. Of course, that will mean a move to California. And the cycle continues.

A Chance Meeting with a Veteran

I had lunch yesterday with a veteran of World War II. His name was Jerry and he was in the area visiting his younger brother. Jerry served the Navy mainly in the south pacific. He was was a part of the fleet waiting to storm the coast of Japan, and watched as the planes carrying the atomic bomb flew towards their target. From his perspective that one flight saved the lives of thousands of soldiers waiting to wade into the unknown territory of Japan.

Jerry shared about one of his Navy buddies that he still stays in contact with today. It seems that his friend was drafted into the military not knowing how to read or write. The letters from home would come. He would take a hard and observant look at the envelop and then quietly slip it under his pillow. One day Jerry asked his friend if he could read the letters he had been receiving. His friend told him that he could, and Jerry confronted his friends with these words, "You are a liar. So, if you want me to help you let me know." Before long Jerry was not only reading his letters to him, but was writing home for him as well. Recently the friend's wife commented on how much she enjoyed Jerry's poetry included in the letters home. By war's end Jerry had taught his friend both to read and write, and even today his friend continues to express his gratitude for Jerry's act of kindness.

Jerry survived the war, and went on to raise a family near the gulf coast. Jerry, his wife and daughter rode out Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Jerry said that for a day they were trapped in their home wading chest deep water. They were rescued, and later a church from North Carolina helped rebuild their home. Jerry said that without the church being there they would not have made it. I asked Jerry about his wife. He said his wife didn't survive the loss associated with the hurricane. His words were, "Her heart couldn't take the loss." I mentioned to Jerry that what was lost from the storm was much more important than the stuff our houses are made of, and he agreed.

It has been said that we are losing approximately 1,000 World War II veterans a day. As you travel your journey find the time to spend with one of these truly American heroes. It will be well worth your time.

Three Hours of CSPAN: Are You Kidding!?

Last night instead of enjoying the Olympics, I spent almost three hours watching C-SPAN. Book Notes ran a taped interview with the famous author from Greenville, MS who lived almost 40 years in downtown Memphis, TN, named Shelby Foote. Although referred to by many callers as Dr. Foote, he only went to college for two years and never finished his degree. Now he has 9 honorary doctorates to his credit. One of those came from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the school he started but never finished. Although Mr. Foote wrote for many years, his real exposure to the masses came as the distinctive voice and face of the south from Ken Burns epic documentary of the Civil War released back in the early 90's.

I learned last night that all his books were originally written by hand. He used a pen and ink well, and averaged about 500 to 600 words per day. He would work as much as two months at a time without taking a day off especially as he neared the end of the Civil War trilogy. Each one of these three books averaged 1,000 pages each, and he would do his own editing as well. Now, I have never taken the time to read his work, but I sat amazed as I listen to this 85 year old man talk about the events of the Civil War as if he personally knew all the characters. It is safe to say that Mr. Foote was passionate about "the war" as he called it on several occasions. And, although he fought in World War 2 and spoke about the Vietnam War, he stated that the Civil War was the only one that he cared to study. Mr. Foote died in June of 2005 at the age of 88.

As I sat and listened last night I was amazed at the look on this gentleman's face as he talked about the people and places associated with the many battles fought during the war. And as I stated earlier, he spoke as if he had personally met and interviewed each general and viewed the battles as they took place. As we journey through life, may we all find something that we are passionate about and be willing to invest our skills and talents into the greater understanding of our cause.

1.8 Miles of Pencils

I work with an organization that receives donations from the public. Since we work with children and it is back to school time, a lot of our donations are school supplies. Yesterday, I received an email from the person that is responsible for logging all of our donations. She informed me that we have over 16,000 pencils donated so far this year. The average length of a pencil is 7 inches, which means that at the present time we have 1.8 miles of pencils. So, while out on the journey and you have a thought, look down there just might be a pencil for you to use compliments of us.

"Fostering Mother"

I visited by alma mater a few days ago with my youngest daughter. She is enrolling there to finish her last year of high school. Alma mater comes from a Latin phrase that means, "fostering mother." Well, I am not sure that is what I would call my high school, but it certainly was a lesson in family history for us.

On the same day my daughter registered for her senior year my grandson registered for the first grade. So, we spent part of the day going down the various hall ways in the high school looking at senior class pictures from the past. On one wall there is my mother and father's class picture side by side from the late 1940's. On another hall you can see my wife and I's class pictures as well. We too graduated one year after the other, me in 1979 and her in 1980. And on yet another wall there is a picture of my grandson's mother (my daughter) and his father. Those photos date back to the early part of the present decade. So, three generations of pictures were there for us to enjoy.

So, I don't know if I ever considered school to be a fostering mother to me, but I certainly can appreciate the piece of family history that has been perserved through photography. By next year, my youngest daughter's picture will hang in those hallowed halls. And before long another generation will find their place there as well. What an unlikely place for a family photo album? Thanks "mom" for the memories.

Small World Experiences

My daughter started a new job a few weeks ago, and found out last week that she shared office space with a young man who once dated my older daughter. We all lived in the same town several years ago. Now several years later and three hours from our home town, these two can't believe the coincident.

Another daughter registered for school yesterday, and discovered her guidance counselor was related to a football coach from the other side of the state. The significance of that is we have a mutual friend that played under this coach a few years back. So, we spent some time with the guidance counselor playing connect the dots, discovering people and places we have in common.

Today, I am at the office working with a lady that I have known for several years. Her and her husband have been very influential in my life. Who would have thought that we would be working in the same office some seventeen plus years later? It truly is a small world, filled with all kinds of pleasant surprises.