J's mom's house pt 3 (The last of it)
Submitted by Mavrick on 2002-10-16 00:53:47, Wednesday
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We were at the U.C. F. for about three hours. J has a soft cast on from his forearm down to his fingers. He has to wear it for a week and be checked again. I have a fiberglass cast on. Eight weeks and P.T. for a while. J bruised his hand pretty badly, but that was all. Lucky kid. I broke one knuckle, two fingers and tore a ligament. The nurse that checked us in asked how it happened and I said, "It's a long story." She said that she needed a cause of the injuries. J said, "We had a fight with a wall. Dad lost, I won." He had a small smile on his face as he looked up at me. Brat. I couldn't be mad at him. The nurse smiled and said that would do. On the way home I debated about going to J's mom's house and cleaning up the mess. The Sargent had called me and said they were done and leaving. I didn't want to clean up the mess tonight. My hand was killing me. (That's right doc, move that finger one more time.) And I didn't want to have to put J through that again. Yeah, I'd wait until tomorrow. I'd drop J off at school and go clean the house. But then maybe I'm being over protective. We were about two blocks from our street and I had decided to wait to clean the house, when J said, "I want to go back to mom's house." Umm, okaaaaay. "Why?" I asked. "I can't leave the house like that. Mom had always kept it spotless. I want it clean." Sigh. Glad I brought the Advil. "Alright." I said. Man that codeine hits hard. Think think. Where's that coffee? Ah. Okay. When we turned onto our street we had about half a mile to my house. A little less to J's mom's house. As we came down the road I noticed there were cars parked on the sided. There are only five houses on the road. I thought that someone must be having a party. The closer we got the J's mom's house, the more cars there were. Then I noticed that there were cars parked the driveway. And on the lawn. And in my driveway. "What's going on?" J asked. "I have no idea" I replied. What is it J? Can I - t v for -, please? All right, but only for an hour. What are you doing? I'm working on a post for the forum. All you all right, dad? I took some codeine that the doctor gave me. I'm getting kind of fuzzy. Why? Your white as a sheet. That's normal. I hate this stuff, but my hand is killing me. Um,dad? Yeah? Next time aim for the middle of the wall. Brat. Hey dad. Yeah? The computer is typing everything we say on the screen. What? Oh man. How do I delete this? The delete key? I can't. I'm using the speak and type program. It locks out the keyboard. End program. End program. It's not a holodeck, dad. Stop. Quite. I don't want to have to do this all over again. Do you think they will mind all this junk on there? I don't know. I guess well find out. Where's the book for the program? It should be on the bookcase. Third shelf, I think. Okay that's it. I'll look through it and see what I can find. Thanks. Tell Oliver I said thanks for the information on Mexico. I'll try to do a separate post for that. Sorry folks. I didn't want that to happen. I don't use this program very often and I forgot the word to stop it from running. Forgive me. Let me continue. As we pulled in the driveway, J opened his door. He tried to get out before the car had stopped. Thank God he had his seat belt on. With his hand in the cast he couldn't reach around and release the latch for the belt. I put the car in park and turned it off. I undid my seatbelt as J was struggling with his. I took hold of his left arm and said, "I'm going in first." He nodded and I undid his seat belt. And he was out the car like a shot. He got to the front door before I did. He had opened it and was just standing there. I had heard noise and talking coming from the house when I shut the car off, but it very quiet now. When I got to the door I could see why J was just standing there. In the house was the pastor, most of the deacons and almost all of the kids from the youth groups and their parents. They were cleaning the house. I had to give J a little shove to get him in the door. At the moment the family of God was cleaning the carpet. Some of the men had even repaired the wall where J and I had done the damage. I was so overwhelmed at that moment that I was speechless. I had to fight back the emotions that were building and driving me to tears. The pastor came over and said "We heard about what happened and I made a few calls. For all the things you have done for use and for our kids, this is the least we could do." I heard a noise on the stairs and looked up to see more people at the top coming out of the rooms. J had started walking around the house, the people moving out of his way as he went. He went into the kitchen and came back out with a smile on his face, but a sad look in his eyes. "It's just like mom used to clean it." There were a few "Awww"s and one lady started to cry. I finally found my voice enough to say one word: "Thanks." That was all I could manage. The window in the back door had been fixed, the broken mirror taken down and cleaned up. The mess was gone. And some kind person even winterized the house. I had always wondered if I was making any kind of a difference in the community and the church. I don't want to brag. It is not me. It is God working through me. But sometimes we need to know what He is doing is making a difference. This answered that question. I ordered pizzas (22 of them) and after they arrived we all sat on the floor talking and enjoying the fellowship. Not like the Sunday morning services, but that special bonding where you know you are part of a much larger family than you ever imagined. Everyone had had their fill and a kind of hush fell over us. J was sitting on the opposite side of the room from me by now. "Hey, Dad " he said. I looked up at him. "Yeah, J?" I answered. Everyone looked at him when he said, "Sell the house." Silence. Total silence. I didn't ask him why. I just nodded. "Alright." One of the older teens, a kind-hearted girl, said, "Why would you want to do that? This was your mom's house. It has all the memories you have of her here. Selling it would be like selling your memories of your mom." Remember when I made the comment about J being wise for his age? He did it again. He left me feeling like he was the teacher and I was the student. God must have touched him in a special way. J looked at the girl and said, "I can never sell the memories I have of my mom. I love her and I will never forget her. Ever. But somebody has violated this house. And has taken away the special feeling that I had here. It used to 'Mom's house' but now…." He looked at the floor. "..it's just a house." You could have heard a pin drop on the carpet. The girl who had asked him how he could sell the house got up and went over to J. She took his face gently in her hands and lifted it so he was looking at her. "I'm so sorry." She said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. So here I am, doped up on pain meds, not feeling any pain, except for the pain of J's loss. And I can't help but think one thing: Will J be able to forgive the people that did that to the house? For that matter will I? I have forgiven many people for many things. And I know that I have to forgive them for what they did to the house. But can I forgive them for taking away something so special to my son? God help me, I don't want to. I want to make them pay for that. But as a Child of God, I must forgive. |
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