Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Well what would you do?

My little buddy had a bad experience yesterday. I made a chicken stew and decided to teach him a life lesson, and demonstrate love and kindness through sharing. I told Liam we were going to walk across the (seldom busy) four-lane street and bring some food to the elderly farmers, 89 and 92, who are no longer mobile and appreciate every visitor.

I gave him a red, light-up, holiday pen and a pad of paper so he could draw pictures while I visited. As I was juggling the food and the 2 year-old, he dropped his pen in the middle of the street. It was all I could do to keep him from darting back for it. Three cars came by; two avoided his pen, but the third one hit it and smashed it to smithereens. He was aghast. "That car breaked my red pen!"
I empathized matter-of-factly as we walked up the driveway. "I'm sorry, honey. When cars hit things they break."

We got the mail out of the box and took it inside to the gentlemen farmers who used to farm from sun rise to sundown.

Were they ever surprised and appreciative of the meal. Last week when we visited, Liam wouldn't speak to them and hid his eyes. They were so happy when he walked in and greeted them by name! He shocked me that he remembered their names. He handed them their mail and began talking a mile a minute. He must have repeated the story ten times. "That bad car smashed my red pen in the street."

They got the biggest kick out of him when he resolved the problem himself. "Well, that's okay. Nana buy me a blue one." We are on day 2 and he is still telling everyone he sees, "That bad car breaked my red pen in the street."

How do you handle disappointment? Are you resilient? Do you dwell on your loss? Focus on misfortune, or move on? An editor's rejection  is seldom an opinion about your writing. It's usually related to editorial needs at the moment. 


The lesson I intended to teach Liam turned into one for me.

8 comments:

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Liam, as usual, has provided a wonderful example for everyone. (I hope you did get him the blue pen...and perhaps another red one!)

Sioux Roslawski said...

Linda--What a pistol Liam is. He's gonna keep you young.

Val said...

I give myself a couple of days to dwell on my writing disappointments. Then I'm over it. Like Liam, though, I might bring it up a lot over those two days!

For example, like when I entered a contest that always awards three places, and two other people took 1st and 2nd, and NO 3rd PLACE WAS GIVEN! Seriously? Was I THAT bad that I couldn't even get a third place if only three people entered? (I'm sure there were more entries than that, and we must not have been of the same caliber as the winners, but I took it as an insult! For a couple of days, anyway.)

Connie said...

Having the car hit the pen is probably something he will remember for a long time. I'm glad he has his Nana to help him get past the disappointment. So sweet of you to visit your neighbors. I'm sure they were glad to see you and Liam.

Susan said...

Awwwww, that was an adorable story. Come on, Grammie, go out and buy the kiddo a new blue pen. (I know you will!) Liam is the best! Susan

Karen Lange said...

Ah, I find I've learned more lessons as an adult than than those I was trying to teach my kids when they were young. I'm sure you and Liam were a great blessing to your neighbors. :) Thanks for sharing your story!

Mary Horner said...

Love this story! The adventures of Linda and Liam. You two make quite a pair.

Pat Wahler said...

What a sweetie. I agree with Lisa. You and Liam need to take a shopping trip!

Pat
www.patwahler.com