We Are The Lucky Ones
We are so lucky that we did not get the snow that my cousin Mark did in the far north portion of the state. It may not have been a huge amount, just enough to be an aggravation.
After I had sat down for a bit in the early part of the evening, I got my second wind. With the right ingredients brought home from the market, I began making a batch of Crab Salad. It is one of our favorites for a noon snack. With an equal amount of celery, onions, imitation crab meat and a bit less of the green peppers, I was a dicing and chopping fanatic. With shredded cheese added before the mayo I had a pretty good sized bowl going with a fair amount of pepper to top it off. Dennis did sample some and he gave it the thumbs up.
As I was making such good use of the new groceries, I have no idea where from the far reaches of my memories I began reminiscing to myself. We had settled into Watonwan County with a job transfer for Orlin with the Moorman’s Feed Company. The transfer had not meant a parallel move for the family income as we now had a home mortgage that far exceeded what we had gained from the Renville County home. Nothing to do but dig deep and apply for food stamps. Carrie and Kevin realized the circumstances. We made it a family trip to Mankato to one of the large grocery stores. Coming home with groceries abound it was fun packing the groceries away and making plans for the fresh produce that could be carefully stretched into the weeks ahead.
We remained on food stamps for some time always shopping carefully. As we had moved from the initial house in Madelia to a second one and then to a farm site, we did then have a garden and we were raising chickens for the freezer. When I applied and received a part-time job at the Watonwan County Assessor’s Office, I was thrilled to talk with Barb Bloom and our Human Service case worked to allow her to know we no longer needed the help with food stamps. Happy days!
Coming back into the present day and time: I put the crab salad into the refrigerator. I felt like the most fortunate person in the world. Yes, this morning we were lucky to have missed the late season snow, but back in time Orlin and I were determined to not want to settle and we changed the course for our family. We are the lucky ones. We did what many families may not be able to do.
I have no idea what may trigger my memories. I am very thankful they come to me. It cements into me that there is never a time when I can sit back and stay static. Perhaps that is why now I am bucking northwest winds for my walks in this cold spring weather to prove to myself that while I am fortunate to have a good life, I can work to make that good life just a bit better and perhaps have it last a bit longer. I really enjoy my life and loving family . . . there is no more to say.