backhoeboogie
Well-known member
HOSS":35u2bwzc said:
Hoss,
I am grateful. Thank you very much.
The BEST thing you ever did..
- Thread starter peg4x4
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
Hoss,
I am grateful. Thank you very much.
Gate Opener
Well-known member
backhoeboogie":32ukmou6 said:
Same here, thank you very much and everyone else who has served or is serving. What you guys and gals do or have done really is appreciated. :tiphat:
Thanks everybody :heart: I feel a bit better today.. Just been a bad week ..Feel like all my squeeky toys don't squeek anymore
And yes,I did giggle at the photo- :lol: tho don't need them any more,not even at that price..
And yes,I did giggle at the photo- :lol: tho don't need them any more,not even at that price..
HOSS
Well-known member
Gate Opener":1xrp631u said:
Thanks for the kind words but I was just one of many. Allot of guys and gals sacraficed more than I did with limbs and lives.
Staff Sgt. Van Drunen took over 70 pieces of shrapnel from an RPG in his legs, back, arms and neck trying to free me from an over-turned Bradley. I was not hurt seriously just bruised and trapped yet he took the hit for me. That is a hero of the highest order. I am so glad he lived and is living a productive life with his family in Denver. I can never repay him and somehow I suspect he would never expect or ask me to.
peg,
I will tell you a story that happened to me on Thanksgiving day about 17 years ago come this Thanksgiving.
Now keep in mind i am not a religious man and i am really not convinced there is a heaven.
BUTTT ?????? I often reflect back and think alot about what happened to me on this picticular Thanksgiving day.
You know you hear about angels who are here on earth and walk among us everyday. Well i use to work construction back in thoes days and the jobs would last anywhere from a few months to a few years at a time. I was recently divorced at that time and i had a young daughter who lived with her Mother. And because i was working construction i either worked so many hours and days of the week or worked out of state away from her i did not get to see her very much at all. And i did not like that at all either.
So i made a promise to her and myself that when i finished my last construction job that i was working on at the time that would be it. I would find a different line of work so that i could spend more time with my daughter.
So i did get laid off and was drawing my unemployment looking hard for a different line of work. And jobs of any kind was really hard to find then.
I did get a interveiw with a factory and i thought i would get the job. And i really needed it to because my unemployment was about to run out. Well it actually had run out just a couple weeks before i got the interveiw and was just about out of money.
I drove an old desil 3/4 ton truck at the time that was on its last lick. And i mean i was having some hard times just scraping by, i mean just buying food was about to come to an end. Things was looking really dim.
So i was really hoping i would get that factory job that i had interveiwed for a few days earlier. I knew a few people who worked there and i would go by everyday and try to talk with a friend who worked there to see if he had herd anything about wether or not the job had been filled.( News like that gets arround in a factory)
Well on Thanksgiving day i made my round and stopped by the factory, talked with my buddy and he said he had herd they had filled the job and i did not get it.
Boy my world had just come to an end. I think i had about $ 50 left maybe a little more or a little less. And after that ran out i did not know how i would even be able to look for a job.
And if there was ever a time i can remember doing some serious praying. It was back then and buddy i mean i was doing alot of it. :lol:
So after getting the bad news from my buddy i headed back home really feeling the world had just ended for me. Well it had been raining heavy all week that week and i took a back road home not far from the factory where i was tring to get a job at. When i came up on a low spot in the dirt road and water was running across it. It was about 12 foot across the water and normally would not have been very deep maybe a foot or so.
So as i started across a few feet in the front end just dropped in water that was about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. Deep enough that the intake on that old desil truck sucked that water right up into the cylinders locking the engine up as tight as a drum.
Well boy that was the straw that broke the camels back. I had been under so much stress for so long. I just could not take anymore. Now not only was i nearly broke, no money coming in, no job to look forward to. But now i was a foot, no way to get to work or look for work and no way to get arround.
Well about 10 minutes later here comes this old, i mean old chevy pick-up that looked like someone had drug it right out of the junk yard with this young man in his early twenties driving it. He pulls up and ask if i was having trouble.
And i explained to him that the engine had sucked water up into it and locked the motor up. I really did not think there was anything we could do. But he drove across the water arround me.( apparently all the heavy rains had washed the road out and i ran off into the washed out area)
We hooked a chain onto the truck and pulled it across to the other side. And he got a ratchet & socket and begin to pull the glow plugs out of each cylinder draining the water out.
And while he was doing this we got to talking and i told him all about my hard times i was having. And he begin to tell me about his.
He told me how he had a wife and two or three little kids( toddlers) and that he was headed to town on that old back road to do some laundry because his wife had been sick and he had also been out of work could'nt find a job. But was tring to get by the best that he could.
I told him that with it being Thankgiving day it even made things seem even worse with the way things are going. And he told me to not feel bad that he could not provide a thanksgiving dinner for his family even though it was thanks giving. Boy i thought that was terrible, i mean here i was just a old roge, i mean i had been invited to spend thanksgiving with friends but i really did not like doing that back then.(felt a little out of place) But here was a young man with little kids and a sick wife who was out of work tring to do laundry on Thanksgiving day so that his family could have at the very least clean clothes to wear. And could not even provide them with some kind of Thanksgiving dinner.
And then to top it all off. Well after draining the water out of my old truck it started right up. I tried to pay him for his help but there was no way he would take a dime for helping me. And when he went to go on his way. His old truck would not start. I think the starter had went out on it right there and then. I think the said it had been going out for a while and he knew what it was.
Well he would not take any money, and said his good byes then took off walking home. :shock: I stopped him and said heck no. You are not walking home after all that you done for me. And he said something like he did not want to put me to any trouble or something to the effect.
So i loaded him up took him home and i mean when i pulled up to where he lived it was a sad site. The young man did not have much of a home for him and his family, they had a small little trailer house out in the middle of this old growed up pasture. Some little bitty 3 or 4 year old kids come running up to him and they was really crazy about their daddy. And his wife came up carring a about 1 year old baby in diapers.
But even as hard as they were having it they still were in high spirits. Boy after seeing how hard him and his family were having it. I forgot all about my troubles and realized i really did not have any.
You know i gave that guy every dime i had left that day and told him i wanted him to buy his family a Turkey and to have a good Thanksgiving dinner. They had a old car that the boy said still run and that they could get arround in. :lol:
You would have thought they had just won the lottery with that little dab of money i gave them. And the young man and his wife tried and tried to get me to stay and have dinner with them. But i did'nt. :lol:
And i wound up getting that job that very next week and have never been out of work since. But i often think about that Thanksgiving day and just what the chances were of having something like that happen during probably the lowest part of my life.
I dont guess i can really say that i had done all that much for that fella as much as what he had done for me and with out asking for as much as even a thank you.
But i am diffinately convinced that if there are angels among us i had one looking after me that day. I know this is a cornny story but it is a true one. ;-)
I will tell you a story that happened to me on Thanksgiving day about 17 years ago come this Thanksgiving.
Now keep in mind i am not a religious man and i am really not convinced there is a heaven.
BUTTT ?????? I often reflect back and think alot about what happened to me on this picticular Thanksgiving day.
You know you hear about angels who are here on earth and walk among us everyday. Well i use to work construction back in thoes days and the jobs would last anywhere from a few months to a few years at a time. I was recently divorced at that time and i had a young daughter who lived with her Mother. And because i was working construction i either worked so many hours and days of the week or worked out of state away from her i did not get to see her very much at all. And i did not like that at all either.
So i made a promise to her and myself that when i finished my last construction job that i was working on at the time that would be it. I would find a different line of work so that i could spend more time with my daughter.
So i did get laid off and was drawing my unemployment looking hard for a different line of work. And jobs of any kind was really hard to find then.
I did get a interveiw with a factory and i thought i would get the job. And i really needed it to because my unemployment was about to run out. Well it actually had run out just a couple weeks before i got the interveiw and was just about out of money.
I drove an old desil 3/4 ton truck at the time that was on its last lick. And i mean i was having some hard times just scraping by, i mean just buying food was about to come to an end. Things was looking really dim.
So i was really hoping i would get that factory job that i had interveiwed for a few days earlier. I knew a few people who worked there and i would go by everyday and try to talk with a friend who worked there to see if he had herd anything about wether or not the job had been filled.( News like that gets arround in a factory)
Well on Thanksgiving day i made my round and stopped by the factory, talked with my buddy and he said he had herd they had filled the job and i did not get it.
Boy my world had just come to an end.
I think i had about $ 50 left maybe a little more or a little less. And after that ran out i did not know how i would even be able to look for a job. And if there was ever a time i can remember doing some serious praying. It was back then and buddy i mean i was doing alot of it. :lol:
So after getting the bad news from my buddy i headed back home really feeling the world had just ended for me. Well it had been raining heavy all week that week and i took a back road home not far from the factory where i was tring to get a job at. When i came up on a low spot in the dirt road and water was running across it. It was about 12 foot across the water and normally would not have been very deep maybe a foot or so.
So as i started across a few feet in the front end just dropped in water that was about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. Deep enough that the intake on that old desil truck sucked that water right up into the cylinders locking the engine up as tight as a drum.
Well boy that was the straw that broke the camels back. I had been under so much stress for so long. I just could not take anymore. Now not only was i nearly broke, no money coming in, no job to look forward to. But now i was a foot, no way to get to work or look for work and no way to get arround.
Well about 10 minutes later here comes this old, i mean old chevy pick-up that looked like someone had drug it right out of the junk yard with this young man in his early twenties driving it. He pulls up and ask if i was having trouble.
And i explained to him that the engine had sucked water up into it and locked the motor up. I really did not think there was anything we could do. But he drove across the water arround me.( apparently all the heavy rains had washed the road out and i ran off into the washed out area)
We hooked a chain onto the truck and pulled it across to the other side. And he got a ratchet & socket and begin to pull the glow plugs out of each cylinder draining the water out.
And while he was doing this we got to talking and i told him all about my hard times i was having. And he begin to tell me about his.
He told me how he had a wife and two or three little kids( toddlers) and that he was headed to town on that old back road to do some laundry because his wife had been sick and he had also been out of work could'nt find a job. But was tring to get by the best that he could.
I told him that with it being Thankgiving day it even made things seem even worse with the way things are going. And he told me to not feel bad that he could not provide a thanksgiving dinner for his family even though it was thanks giving. Boy i thought that was terrible, i mean here i was just a old roge, i mean i had been invited to spend thanksgiving with friends but i really did not like doing that back then.(felt a little out of place) But here was a young man with little kids and a sick wife who was out of work tring to do laundry on Thanksgiving day so that his family could have at the very least clean clothes to wear. And could not even provide them with some kind of Thanksgiving dinner.
And then to top it all off. Well after draining the water out of my old truck it started right up. I tried to pay him for his help but there was no way he would take a dime for helping me. And when he went to go on his way. His old truck would not start. I think the starter had went out on it right there and then. I think the said it had been going out for a while and he knew what it was.
Well he would not take any money, and said his good byes then took off walking home. :shock: I stopped him and said heck no. You are not walking home after all that you done for me. And he said something like he did not want to put me to any trouble or something to the effect.
So i loaded him up took him home and i mean when i pulled up to where he lived it was a sad site. The young man did not have much of a home for him and his family, they had a small little trailer house out in the middle of this old growed up pasture. Some little bitty 3 or 4 year old kids come running up to him and they was really crazy about their daddy. And his wife came up carring a about 1 year old baby in diapers.
But even as hard as they were having it they still were in high spirits. Boy after seeing how hard him and his family were having it. I forgot all about my troubles and realized i really did not have any.
You know i gave that guy every dime i had left that day and told him i wanted him to buy his family a Turkey and to have a good Thanksgiving dinner. They had a old car that the boy said still run and that they could get arround in. :lol:
You would have thought they had just won the lottery with that little dab of money i gave them. And the young man and his wife tried and tried to get me to stay and have dinner with them. But i did'nt. :lol:
And i wound up getting that job that very next week and have never been out of work since. But i often think about that Thanksgiving day and just what the chances were of having something like that happen during probably the lowest part of my life.
I dont guess i can really say that i had done all that much for that fella as much as what he had done for me and with out asking for as much as even a thank you.
But i am diffinately convinced that if there are angels among us i had one looking after me that day. I know this is a cornny story but it is a true one. ;-)
peg4x4":1lcufu2m said:
Maybe I'm wrong here but, given the circumstances, it seems to me that thinking about the important things you've done would be much more beneficial than hearing about what anyone else has done. ;-)
Stepper, that's a great story. I try to base my life on the thought that things happen for a reason. Even really sucky things. I hope that guy made it and I am glad you did. You need to tell your daughter that story so that she can tell it to her kids.
Horticattleman
Well-known member
Man Stepper, you kinda put a good new direction on my Friday. I really enjoyed that story and am proud to call you a fellow American.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
msscamp":1hel4uzt said:
I agree with Msscamp. I try to hope for the best out of people but expect very little. I also have found that by not expecting anything from them and just doing the best I can for others gives me an inner satisfaction that, to me, is more valuable than anything they could do for me. I hope this makes sense and I hope you get out of your rut. Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.
This may seem a bit odd, and I have never put much thought into it as to the "why"...but I seem to get the most pleasure by doing something for someone, it doesn't matter what (big or small) and doing it anonymously.
I guess this way, the person helped doesn't need to feel in debted, or whatever to the person that helped them, but remember the help, and help someone else in need some day.
Michele
I guess this way, the person helped doesn't need to feel in debted, or whatever to the person that helped them, but remember the help, and help someone else in need some day.
Michele
Lammie & Horticattleman,
I am glad you enjoyed the story. And Lammie i know what you mean about you find your work to be meaningful. Because it is very meaningful ! And i also know what mean by it making you a better person and i too think things in life happen for a reason.
Ever since that happened to me on that Thanksgiving day i have looked at things in a different light. Exspecially when i think i am having it ruff.
I tend to look at people like the ones who you take care of and other people sort of like the young man and his family in my story when times are a little hard for me. And i always immediately come to realize the problems i am having are meaning less compared to what these people are going through.
If i lost every material posession i own tommorrow and had to sleep under the trees at night. My problems would still be consider very small compared to say someone who had a terminal cancer or something that was going to leave them confined to a hospital bed for the rest of their lifes and that list goes on and on.
I am glad you enjoyed the story. And Lammie i know what you mean about you find your work to be meaningful. Because it is very meaningful ! And i also know what mean by it making you a better person and i too think things in life happen for a reason.
Ever since that happened to me on that Thanksgiving day i have looked at things in a different light. Exspecially when i think i am having it ruff.
I tend to look at people like the ones who you take care of and other people sort of like the young man and his family in my story when times are a little hard for me. And i always immediately come to realize the problems i am having are meaning less compared to what these people are going through.
If i lost every material posession i own tommorrow and had to sleep under the trees at night. My problems would still be consider very small compared to say someone who had a terminal cancer or something that was going to leave them confined to a hospital bed for the rest of their lifes and that list goes on and on.
Nowland Farms
Well-known member
Years ago when my wife and I were young, we were struggling to raise our 2 young sons, and put her through college. I worked a fulltime job Monday thru Friday and picked up odd jobs on the weekend. Even though my wife needed to study, she worked weekends at the hospital as a Nurse Tech. Her Aunt and Uncle approached wanting to help out on my wife's college tutition. Being a man, I wanted to do it myself, I tried to thank them for their offer and refuse the money. I will never forget what my wife's aunt said when I tried to refuse. She said that they wanted to help and that I should not rob them of the blessing of being able to help. At the time, I did not understand what she was saying.
As we got older, GOD has blessed us more than we deserve, I have 30 years service and counting at my job, My wife is now a Registered Nurse and a Physical Therapist. Now, one of the simplest things my wife are able to do is to share some of our blessings. Several times over the last few years we have been able to give cash to someone who is struggling but trying hard to make it. We usually just leave it in an blank envelope or mail it to them (no return envelope). Each of these times, no one knows where the money came from. Other times we have just helped nieces or nephews or children of friends with major events in their lives.
Life's Lesson - I now understand the blessing you receive when you help someone, no matter how big or small.
As we got older, GOD has blessed us more than we deserve, I have 30 years service and counting at my job, My wife is now a Registered Nurse and a Physical Therapist. Now, one of the simplest things my wife are able to do is to share some of our blessings. Several times over the last few years we have been able to give cash to someone who is struggling but trying hard to make it. We usually just leave it in an blank envelope or mail it to them (no return envelope). Each of these times, no one knows where the money came from. Other times we have just helped nieces or nephews or children of friends with major events in their lives.
Life's Lesson - I now understand the blessing you receive when you help someone, no matter how big or small.
Nowland Farms,
That is a very thoughtful thing you do and i think the way you give them money anonusmaly is the way it should be done if someone is going to give money to help someone out. It should be done in a manner like that to avoid making them feel embarassed or ashamed. Taking someones dignity is not helping them.
That is a very thoughtful thing you do and i think the way you give them money anonusmaly is the way it should be done if someone is going to give money to help someone out. It should be done in a manner like that to avoid making them feel embarassed or ashamed. Taking someones dignity is not helping them.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
peg4x4":sz1f5108 said:
Glad you a feeling better. I can tell you one thing I know you've done good for sure. That is posting your signature line. I get a chuckle every time I read it. And I'm in agreement with you, for I too, "prefer my version of reality". :lol:
chrisy
Well-known member
peg4x4":2moo07wj said:
Peg think of the good the things you have done is easy...you have been by your Daughters side, and helped her by just being there as her Mom through all her troubles....Peg Moms like you are one in a million. take care and glad to hear you are lifting from your doldrums, think positive thoughts and they will be with you, when your down......Chris.
IN THE SEVENTIES I WORKED A YEAR AT THE FOOD STAMP OFFICE. IT WAS A TRAVELING TEAM BETWEEN 3 TOWNS. SO THE NEXT DAY WAS ALWAYS SOME OTHER OFFICE. I WAS THE GIRL AT THE FRONT DESK. NOW THIS IS NOT THE BEST THING I EVER DID FOR SOMEONE, BUT IT IS ONE I REMEMBER FROM THE PAST......THERE WAS A WOMAN THERE WHO HAD LIQUOR ON HER BREATH THAT I HAD TO MAKE A APT. FOR THE NEXT WEEK.
AFTER SHE WENT ON OUT......THAT LITTLE VOICE ......LED ME TO TAKE MY LAST MONEY, WHICH WAS $5.00[THIS WAS A WED.]AND TIMID ME, RAN OUT THE DOOR AFTER HER AND TOLD HER THIS WAS TO HELP HER AND THAT GOD LOVED HER. AT THAT POINT IT WAS ABOUT THE BOLDEST THING I EVER DID. WHEN I GOT HOME THURS. NITE THERE WAS AN UNEXPECTED REFUND CHECK FOR OVER $9.00 IN THE MAILBOX. PAYDAY WAS EVERY TWO WEEKS AND THAT NEXT DAY I GOT PAID. BUT THE REAL PAY WAS THE NEXT WEEK WHEN THE LADY SHOWED UP FOR HER APT. SHE WAS CLEAN, SMILING AND SOBER AND SHE GOT THE HELP SHE NEEDED THAT DAY.
I WAS BLESSED THAT I HAD THE NERVE AND I HAD HELPED HER.
AFTER SHE WENT ON OUT......THAT LITTLE VOICE ......LED ME TO TAKE MY LAST MONEY, WHICH WAS $5.00[THIS WAS A WED.]AND TIMID ME, RAN OUT THE DOOR AFTER HER AND TOLD HER THIS WAS TO HELP HER AND THAT GOD LOVED HER. AT THAT POINT IT WAS ABOUT THE BOLDEST THING I EVER DID. WHEN I GOT HOME THURS. NITE THERE WAS AN UNEXPECTED REFUND CHECK FOR OVER $9.00 IN THE MAILBOX. PAYDAY WAS EVERY TWO WEEKS AND THAT NEXT DAY I GOT PAID. BUT THE REAL PAY WAS THE NEXT WEEK WHEN THE LADY SHOWED UP FOR HER APT. SHE WAS CLEAN, SMILING AND SOBER AND SHE GOT THE HELP SHE NEEDED THAT DAY.
I WAS BLESSED THAT I HAD THE NERVE AND I HAD HELPED HER.
Nowland Farms
Well-known member
peg4x4":1nmiw6i2 said:
Peg, I bet it was the B12. Years ago when we were in our early 20s, My buddy and I gave each of our beagles a B12 shot before went went rabbit hunting. I don't know if it was the B12 or what but the beagles ran rabbits ALL DAY long. I can remember thinking that we wouldn't do that again cause we couldn't catch them............ :lol: :lol: :lol:
"You not beginning to feel like chasing rabbits are you ??"
