Musings from the Grange
by Lilly Wit

Last Monday afternoon I had the house all to myself. My daughter, the last child home for the day, had just left to visit her boyfriend, and I had a huge smile on my face as I curled around my favorite pillow for a sinfully long afternoon nap. Two minutes later my phone began belting out the Chipmunk Christmas Song, my daughter’s ringtone.

“Don’t answer it,” I thought to myself.

“We’ve been good but it won’t last . .  . ,” the chipmunks insisted as I rolled over and mentally prepared myself to say no to whatever she was about to ask me.

I answered the phone and was greeted with hysterical sobs. Between the gasps and howls, I thought I made out the words, “mom,” “car,” and “off the road.”

As I walked the mile to the crash site, I contemplated all the ways I was going to kill her, how I was going to get the car towed, how much this adventure was going to cost, and, again, how many different ways I was going to kill her.

Finally, I rounded the last curve to see my car planted face first into the side of the mountain. The bumper was crushed, the grill was crumpled to the point it had disappeared, and there was the telltale hissing sound of a crack in the radiator.

My daughter, other than the tear-stained face, looked fine. “The airbag didn’t even go off,” she sobbed.

“That’s too bad,” I thought to myself, secretly wishing the van had taken its Federal Highway Administration mandated opportunity to powder her face and slap her silly.

After determining the van would make it the mile back to my house, I drove it and my daughter home. On the way, I irritably quizzed her about how the accident happened.

When we arrived home, she got out of the van and slammed the door. “It wasn’t my fault.” she insisted as she angrily stomped toward the house. “And by the way mother, I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” she added as her voice trailed off into the house.

“Just breathe,” I told myself. “It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.”

Bad days happen everywhere, even in our organizations. We’ve all seen our share of them.  Equipment breaks, facilities don’t work, payments don’t arrive, and stuff gets messed up. We’ve all been out of money, short on staff, and behind on work.

There have been times when it would have been easier to just give up.

What we’ve learned, however, is that eventually everything will be alright again. People work things out, stuff gets fixed, and business will go on. Sure, bad things may happen but, through it all, we continue to appreciate the good things and to look forward to what’s coming next. That’s how we’re able to keep our organizations strong. As actor, singer, and game show host Peter Marshall once said, “When we long for life without difficulties, keep in mind that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”

Wednesday morning, my van was sitting forlornly in the farthest corner of my driveway, lonely, sad, and broken. I’m sure it heard my husband hailing my son to get out of bed and take the garbage to the end of the driveway, and I’m sure it knew what was coming.

Less than happy at being awoken at 6:45 a.m. and still mostly asleep, my son threw the cans into the back of the truck, put it in reverse and began backing out of the garage as he has done so many times before. The van didn’t stand a chance. Without a look back, he proceeded to rip off the whole front end of the van with the bumper of the truck.

My 89 year old father-in-law often shakes his head and says, “It hardly pays to raise ’em.  But it sure would be boring without ’em”.

Just think what might happen next.