Monday, January 27, 2003

Disappointments and Blessings in Disguise
A young bachelor and a once upon a time married woman decided to set up housekeeping together. Most of his worldly treasures were things bequeathed to him when his grandparents found another world in which to dwell. Most of hers were abandoned in an attempt to find sanity and solace in her own heart. For three years they managed to find relative peace and quite a bit of happiness in a modest apartment in one of the better neighborhoods in Metro Atlanta. As their grandparents had taught them, they "made do" with what they had. During their three years together, a few pieces of furniture were acquired, but due to the constrictions of space and salaries, they continued to "make do".

The stresses of her divorce, moving to a new city, adapting to a life away from her main support system, and a new relationship caught up with her, and once she was in the safety of his love, she learned that it was acceptable to be vulnerable. She relinquished the cape of SuperMom and allowed this young man to become more than simply the love of her life. He became her lifeline as she recupperated from a two year illness. He helped her learn that despite being weak and frail, she was still loved, and before too long, she thrived and was strong once more. Strong, and smart, she knew she had limits and seldom exceeded them. She learned the art of skillful napping!

Then, he lost his job, as so many people in the Information Technology field did in 2002. As soon as he told her, they looked at each other, and in perfect unison announced to each other and to the universe, "It's the perfect blessing in disguise." They knew that this was the opportunity they both had been waiting for. They had been frugal and saved enough money during their tenure in the thriving metropolis that they knew they would be fine without immediate or steady income for a while. Weighing out all their options, they decided that this was the perfect time to move. He had a brilliant business plan just lying dormant, waiting for the perfect time and place to be launched. She had amassed a great many office skills and would find no trouble locating a new job wherever she went.

Unemployed, they could take their time to find the perfect new home, and they could move at their own leisurely pace. Their three bedroom rental home needed many things, and they started making a list of what they could afford to buy first. Suddenly, disaster struck, or so they thought. A dear family friend had been killed in a car crash, and everyone was devastated at the loss. Several weeks later, the elder son of the friend called and offered this couple the opportunity of a lifetime! The deceased family is a family of substantial financial means, and in spite of their sadness, stood to gain even more from insurance holdings their father saw fit to invest in prior to his death. The opportunity was for them to travel about three hours to "dad's condo" and see if there were any furnishings they desired. Of course, it was understood and expected that family members would have the power to supercede any desires of this couple, yet because of the close ties to the entire family, everyone expected to see their modest home soon refurbished.

She tried to disguise her feeling like a vulture as she walked through the house with a sticky note pad, and placed their names on vibrating, heating, leather recliners (now they could discard those old 70's era things they currently sat on!) She saw the perfect single bed for their guest room and knew that was one expense they'd be spared. His heart skipped a beat in unison with hers, when they learned that no one in the family had any desire to claim the dining set, nor any of the lamps that were lighting and decorating the old friend's waterfront home. A wonderful sofa would soon replace the worn out one she secretly loathed. As they left that afternoon, they rejoiced, because they knew that disguised in the death of a very special man, was a bounty for them. The furniture was all very modern, and would certainly brighten their home.

He started making arrangements to have a friend take off from work to help him move the new things in. Alas, this was not a miracle in disguise but a very impractical joke, or simply another disaster. The youngest son in that family decided that their father's possessions should not be divided among family and friends, even though everyone sought to pay homage through their continued care of his father's things. No, he felt that the best service to his father would be to give all the furniture and other possessions to his own daughter. She'd recently made a hasty departure from a rather unpleasant relationship and her father decided that she should be the family steward of all her grandfather's possessions.

The young man who expected to gain a new recliner recluctantly told his sweetheart about the disappointing news. She felt that this was the way the youngest son chose to grieve his father's loss, yet she could not stop herself from making a bitter comment about the 2.5 million dollar insurance settlement she knew the family had received. The rich do seem to always need more and the poor or modestly funded must continue to "make do". Yet, she thought, "What goes around, most certainly will come back around, one day." And with sadness, not for herself, she resumed counting pennies.

posted by Unknown at 1/27/2003 06:56:00 PM