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A Lesson in Living


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I would like to share an experience, something that happened to me yesterday during a beautiful summer day, just the kind i love to walk about and  revel in, which was what i did,  After ending a stroll around my block ,  i decided i would go sit on the back patio of where i live and contemplate life.  I passed my grandson's car parked in the drive way on my way there .  

 

After settling into a chair,  i sat there, basking in  what might be my last summer on this earth because at my age tomorrow is not promised. Gradually, i became immersed in deep thought about life and its meaning and my entrenched resistance to religion. Slowly emerging from my pondering,  i casually gazed around and noticed that my grandson's car was gone from the driveway and i hadn't even heard him leave because i was so deep in thought.  Since i was getting hot and thirsty i decided i was ready to retreat into the cooler confines of my bed room.  Knowing the back door to the house was always kept locked, i went round to the front, it never occurring to me that when my grandson left, he would lock the  door.  But, "lo and behold", that's what he had done, apparently thinking i was inside the house , chilling in my bedroom. 

 

So, there i stood baking in the heat, locked out;  no phone with me, not to mention there was no one immediately available for me to call.  I have never had anything but a nodding acquaintance with my white neighbors and at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, all the adults and able-bodied ones were probably at work. I took myself back to the patio and, after checking, sure enough the back door was  locked.  I took a seat,  convinced because  i was totally deserted, that i was in a dire predicament dangerous to my health , having nothing to anticipate but drying out in the sun until my daughter came home from work 5 hours later. My grandson was also gone for the day.  What to do ? What to do?

 

Time for more contemplating.  i thought how  i was the star of a scenario where i needed some help from the lord so many of my folks call upon in a time of need.  Finally bestirring myself,  i got to my feet and started investigating the house windows accessible from the patio,.  But much to my distress,  they were all sealed, the storm ones having never been removed - except for the last one that looked into my daughter's bedroom.  It had no storm window and was open just  a couple of inches. After much exertion i managed to raise it.  The screen was my next obstacle.  Wrestling with it, i eventually managed to get it out of the way and all that was left was for me to drag a wrought iron chair over for me to stand on and try and wriggle through the small window.  

 

i was out-of-breath, dehydrated and over-heated, but i pressed on with all the strength that was left in my 83-year-old tired body. Struggling and twisting, after squirming side-ways, i  managed to halfway way get through the widow.   More scuffling followed until i finally got inside, falling to the floor, knocking over a table and a lamp.

 

My mental state was slightly confused, and all i could think of was to pick myself up,  go  unlock and open the front door,  - as if this was some kind of reassurance .  When i did this, coming up the front walk was a huge, roly-poly,  bald-headed black man,  bringing to  mind a genie from a bottle.  I stood there staring at him and he smiled  as if to reassure  that i had no reason to be alarmed.  At closer scrutiny i saw that he was wearing a uniform, and parked in front of the house was a big fork-lift truck.  He informed me he was from the village  and was there in the neighborhood to inspect the dead limbs they would be removing from  trees the next morning and to tell residents to park  off the streets. i nodded dumbly and he was on his way, as i thought how he could've probably helped me had he  appeared a half hour early.

 

Anyway, after a  matter of minutes I was ensconced in my bedroom, relaxing on my recliner, imbibing  a refreshing Gatorade, as the overhead ceiling fan circulated cool air.  Within the space of an hour my desperate situation had totally reversed itself, prompting me to again engage in contemplation.  Had help  come from above in the form of a village worker who could've  rescued me, a hero i had no need for because, calling upon my inner strength,  i had done for myself,  what no one else was there to do? I don't know. What i do know is that I've never had a problem with the idea that god helps those who help themselves. Praying for help in this situation was not  something i had enough faith to settle for. 

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Wow.  I can image a number of alternative outcomes for that story.  The Skip Gates scenario comes to mind. Your mug shot would have been a nice image for you to test your new image uploading functionality ;)

 

If an 80 year old woman can break into your house, sounds like you can use a security system or simply don't bother locking your doors.  Seriously hide a spare key under a rock in your back yard.

 

Speaking of not locking doors, Cynique, in your neck of the woods ,when did people actually start locking doors?  

 

 

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Yes, I guess we should get a spare key and hide it somewhere.  This quiet neighborhood where i now reside, a place where i moved to live with my daughter because i didn't feel like trying to maintain a house back in my old town, is very quiet  and safe. So much so that i can go days at a time without actually seeing any people; just cars. So i actually  wouldn't anticipate any problems leaving our door here unlocked.  Where i formerly lived,  the 80s were the last time i lived in a neighborhood where the doors could be left unlocked.

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In the 1980's in NY City people needed gates or bars on windows, heavy metal doors with 2 or 3 dead bolts locks to prevent people from breaking into an apartment or house.  Still sometimes they would just wait for you to open the door and then break in.  Can you imagine living in such an environment?  It is weird just thinking about it now...

 

When I was a kid people in the south did not even have locks on their doors--they would just walk right in.  Just a screen door protecting them from the outside world.  My cousins could leave their bike on their lawns overnight.  We could not even ride our bikes without being concerned about someone stealing it.

 

Interestingly today you are safer in NYC that you are in many of those places in the south.  Those very same neighborhoods where you could leave your door unlocked, now have security systems and homes are regularly broken into.  

 

 

 

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Frederick Douglass said he prayed for 20 years but got no answer until he prayed with his feet!


I strongly believe in prayer, but I also strongly believe in taking action.

Actually, I practice both on a daily basis.

 



Cynique

Would it be inappropriate to ask, what exactly were you WEARING when you were doing all this crawling around, rattling doors, and climbing through windows?

 

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I was  scantily clad, wearing a sleeveless top and shorts and sneakers. When i recounted my  close call  to my family members they all thought it was funny.  Everybody had a suggestion as to what I SHOULD"VE DONE.  Thinkin' about disinheriting them.  :D

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I don't know if I have a full grasp of exactly what happened.

Would it be too much to ask if you RE-INACTED the scene and...before you disown them...have one of your children or grandchildren record it and post it on here so that we all may get a better picture of the ordeal you went through.....lol.

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