Yesterday was a really busy and abnormal day. Monday night I could see my week getting increasingly busy and realized I was going to have to fit my grocery shopping in earlier than normal. So after dropping the kids off at school Tuesday morning I ran to Fred Meyer and then to Safeway.
[As a little side story that has nothing to do with the main point of this post, I got a free turkey from Fred Meyer for the second week in a row. We have 2 people in our family who can't stand turkey so we generally bake a ham and my sister does a turkey breast in her Instapot and brings it over. I take the free frozen turkeys anyway and donate them to people in my circle who could use them. Last week I gave the turkey to the family of one of our daughter's friends who, among other things, is struggling with cancer treatments and other health struggles and said they could use a free turkey. Yesterday, after finishing my grocery shopping, I went to my favorite thrift store to offer a free turkey to my favorite employee there and she was so excited and grateful! I have never seen someone so thrilled over a turkey before! It made my morning to see her so happy!]
Back to the rest of my story:
I got home with enough time to put the groceries away and do my Bible reading before my husband got home (from Newark, NJ) and then I went to my son's school to volunteer over his lunch break.
When my husband got home he started a load of laundry and then went to the gas station to get fuel for our generator. Then he did a bunch of yard cleanup ahead of a big wind storm (the weather people called it a "bomb cyclone") heading our way.
I got home and fixed us some lunch. We had a roofing contractor pull up to give us an estimate on replacing our roof (it is the original roof and over 20 years old and it developed a minor leak last week) just as I was leaving to pick the kids up from school.
The roofing guy thoroughly inspected our roof and was at our home for several hours because after his inspection, he sat in his car and worked up a quote for us and then came inside to discuss it. By the time he left it was after 5pm and our lights were really blinking. My Mom had lost power an hour or two before and we were anticipating our own power outage (it DID end up going out at about 8:30pm and is still currently out as I write this).
I had a killer headache so took some Excederin and we decided to go get dinner and bring it home - that means I got everyone's orders and my daughter (thankfully) drove me to the restaurant (while the boys stayed home) to get the food and then she drove us home.
One of the blessings of having MS on a night when EVERYONE is losing power or anticipating losing power so restaurants are super busy is that I qualify for and have a disabled parking permit. It has been such a relief to be able to find close-in parking, especially on days when I am fatigued, have a pronounced foot drop, have a headache and feel heavy - like I'm walking through a pool full of play doh. Last night my daughter pulled in to the disabled spot in front of the restaurant while I pulled out my parking hang-tag and put it on the rear view mirror.
Right away we noticed a truck flashing its brights right behind us as we parked. I thought initially the driver had bumped his brights on accident but he just sat there with his lights on behind us and when we got out of the car, he could only see my able-bodied 15 year-old daughter and yelled out his window "Are you disabled?! If not, you need to move!" So I walked around behind the car over to his window and kindly asked if he could see my hanging disabled parking tag. He gave me a thumbs up but I walked up to his window and explained that I have MS and he was very understanding. He has a bad back (with a rod in it) and it hurts him to get in and out of his truck. He was so nice when I talked to him! I put my hand on his and offered to move but he wouldn't let me and as we were talking an even closer spot to the door opened up and he was able to park there. After ordering and paying for our dinner I noticed he was sitting and recovering for a bit before he stood up to get in line so I offered to stand in line for him while he sat down. He wouldn't let me but we left on great terms and we wished eachother a happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas. It was such a bright spot in my day and my daughter felt love and compassion for him as well.
I learned a LOT through that interaction. My daughter saw a very clear, real-world example of how a soft answer really CAN turn away wrath. But as I thought about it later, I realized another important lesson for myself. I learned was that I should not take that disabled parking permit for granted as I often do. I may be disabled but there are people in a LOT worse shape than me who need those spots more than I do. I was being self-centered in my thinking and not considering the needs of others. I need to make sure that I only park in those spots when I REALLY need to - not just out of convenience. Exercise is good for me and I am not in any pain. If I am having a good MS day, I will choose a different parking spot from now on and leave the disabled spots for someone who really needs it.
