My in-laws were visiting from Nebraska over the weekend and while catching up on all the family news, my mother-in-law, Pat, told me a story worth repeating.
The Good Stuff
My husband and his family are from a small (pop. 1000) rural farming community in Northeast Nebraska. Pat is a hairdresser and my father-in-law, Gary, drives trucks for farmers. The smallest of towns have the most amazing way of taking care of their neighbors and Randolph is no exception. There’s a retirement aged gentlemen, Jimmy, living in the community who has had the same paper route since he was 13. He has some intellectual disabilities and has had a caretaker throughout childhood and into adulthood. His job has always been delivering the newspaper. He was recently asked, “You know, Jimmy, you can retire from that paper route?” His response was priceless, “Yeah, but the Christmas gifts are worth it!”
Pat and I laughed and also got a little misty eyed at the love and care shown to Jimmy for over 50 years. His faithful service rewarded on the regular with the good stuff he looked forward to receiving during the holidays.
I would be willing to bet that most of us work day in and day out and while we don’t always love it—there’s the good stuff that keeps us going back to the workplace. For me, “the good stuff” is co-worker and community relationships that are enhanced as we work together to change lives for good. It’s watching my children achieve personal goals. It’s watching my friends build businesses and give back to the community.
And tonight, it’s Girl Scout Cookie Season—I have a sleeve of nearly demolished thin mints keeping me company on the couch as I write. (For those of you who only know the healthy eating me—I have my vises. Ha!)
The point is, the good stuff is always sprinkled in throughout our journey. Notice it and life is immediately richer.
