Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving

Many of you dont know me or dont know much about me.  I thought I would share one of my favorite Thanksgiving stories.  It has nothing to do with being the police but it has everything to do with how I became the person I am.

I came from a very large family, 11 children.  I consider my mother a saint.  She managed to feed, clothe, house, and educate us, and make sure that none of us ended up in jail.  You all know how much laundry you have.  Picture laundry for 13 people.  My mother liked to go to the laundromat early so she could take up a whole row of machines and get most of it done at one time.  One Thanksgiving  (I was probably 8 or 9) she decided that she needed to get laundry done.  So she and I loaded up the back of the station wagon with all the clothes.  We went to the laundromat and loaded up the machines.  While we were loading, I noticed a woman sitting in the waiting area.  I thought it a little odd because no other machines were being used. 

The laundromat was in a strip mall that had a Jewel grocery store at one a National Tea grocery store at the other.  We left the laundromat and went to the Jewel.  We shopped and then came back to move the clothes from the washers to the dryers.  My favorite part of the whole process was putting in the quarters and pressing all the buttons. (some people say I still love pressing buttons).  We left again and went to the National to do some more shopping.  The woman was still sitting there.

We came back from the second store and started folding clothes.  The woman was still there.  My mother walked over to this woman (a complete stranger) and invited her to come home with us for Thanksgiving dinner.  The woman thanked her but said no, she was waiting for someone.  The entire laundry process takes several hours.  The woman sat there the entire time.  As we were leaving my mother again asked her if she would like to come with us.  The woman had a tear on her cheek but again said no thank you.  I left there with a new appreciation for the kind hearted woman my mother is.  In her mind, one more was always welcome and even a stranger shouldnt be alone on Thanksgiving.

I hope I am half the woman my mother is.  Happy Thanksgiving all.  I m sure we all have something to be thankful for.