Friday, February 25, 2011

WIll I

     Shamequa Johnson, Shamequa Johnson.
      Here I am.
     Girl, do you know how long I've been calling your name?
     I'm sorry ma'am.  I just got lost again.  That's been happening a lot since...
    Oh, I know.  Don't worry about it child and follow me.
     What will you be doing?
     Says here you think you're pregnant.
     Yes ma'am.
     Well,  we're gonna find out for sure.
     What are you gonna do?
     You're gonna pee in this cup, then I'll have to take a little blood so go on in there.

     Here ya go.  Will gettin' my blood hurt?
     No, just sit here and relax.

     See now that wasn't so bad was it?
     No.  What's next?
     We'll run a quick test for ya.
     I've just been so scared since Jamal and me....
     I know honey.   You want to talk about it?
     I just seen a big billboard as I was walkin' here just now.
     The one talking about girls like you?
     Yeah, it said the most dangerous place for an African-American baby is in its momma's womb.  What does that mean?
     Oh sugar, don't worry about that sign.  Them people just tryin' to scare you.  You're in the right place.  You're not the only one this has ever happened to and it's for sure you ain't gonna be the last.
     What do you mean?
     Honey, 60% of the girls like you in this city come here.  We'll take care of everything.  It's your body.  You deserve your freedom.
     I don't want no baby.
     I know honey.  We'll take good care of that.  Just go in here and sit while we check your tests.

     Shamequa,  we have your results.  Come on back, child.
     What what does it say?
     Honey we'll talk back here.  Sit down.
     What does it say.  I'm pregnant.  I just know it.
     Honey you knew that before you walked in here today.
     Yeah,  I guess.  I was just hopin'....  What am I gonna do?
     Honey I told you.  We'll take care of everything.  Girl your age needs to be free.  You don't need to have the burden of carryin' no baby with you every where you go.  You need to enjoy life, have fun.
     What about that sign?  What if I don't have no money?
     Honey I done told you.  Those people are just tryin' to scare you.  Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you.  You can thank Roe and the Supremes for that.  Besides it's ok if you don't have money.
      What are you talking about Roe & the Supremes?
      You know honey,  when we won the the right.  It's our body.  The court said we can do with it whatever we see fit.  You're too young to be burdened by a baby.  We'll take care of everything.
     I don't have no money.  How much this gonna cost?
     Honey, we got that taken care of too.  This is legal.  The Supremes say so, so we got plenty of money for girls like you.

     Alright Shamequa, we're ready for you now.  Come on back and you'll be out living your own life again very soon and you won't have to worry about a thing.
     Are you sure everything's gonna be alright?
     Honey, The Supremes gave you this right way back in 1973.  You deserve to do with your body what you want to.  You're too young to worry about havin' a baby.  Let's get you ready.
     All right I'm ready.

     See, Shamequa that didn't take so long.  Now you go on out there and have some fun like a girl should
     Ok.  I guess I don't have anything to worry about no more.     Will I?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

I Can Breath in a Small Town

     I have lived all over the state of Illinois.  I have spent my whole life in Illinois.  Illinois to most outsiders is Chicago.  There is more to Illinois than Chicago. 

     I was raised on a farm just outside of one of Illinois' smallest communities, San Jose.  The town is now mostly known because of it's facebook page of  "I know how to pronounce San Jose".  Because nowadays, there really is not  much left to the town except of course for the one thing that is now mandated in order for a town to exist,  and that's a Casey's.

     I've seen it all in a small town.  Had myself a ball in a small town.  Taught to fear Jesus in a small town.  Had myself  a ball in a small town where there's little opportunity.  My parents lived in that same small town.  I used to day dream in a small town.  That's probably where they'll bury me.

     John Cougar Melancamp wrote that song about his childhood small town of Bloomington, IN.  But that small town has nothing on the small town I grew up in.  His small town was probably 30,000 people.  My small town was lucky to be 600 people.  I could walk up and down the hall ways of my high school and name all 115  people who occupied that entire high school.  Heck there probably was a time when I could walk up and down most every street in town and name the people who lived in most every house.

     There really wasn't a whole lot of anything in this small town at the time that I grew up there.  There were 2 gas stations.  And I mean gas stations not today's convenience stores.  This is where Lloyd or John, depending on which station you went to (one across from the other on the only highway going through town U.S. Rte 136) would come out and greet you by name and ask how much gas you wanted them to put into your tank for you, as they popped the hood to check your oil.  The driver and Loyd or John would get each other caught up on the latest bit of gossip in town and you would be on your way.

     There was also one little cafe in town that probably served the best pizza burger that I've had even to this day.  Another place to go to hear the latest gossip and to watch the famers nurse a cup or 5 cups of coffee as they solved the world's problems.  They could slide down to the cafe while their grain truck was being unloaded of its corn by Keith at the grain elevator at the top of the hill.  The Mrs. might take a huge gamble and call the cafe using the 4 digit phone number that was assigned to it to see if John Smith (really his name) could walk over to the only grocery store in town so he could get a carton of milk and a loaf of bread from Claude.  Graham's store was good with the charge accounts because he knew his loyal customers were good for it.  Almost forgot, I still remember our phone number was 3606 and could be reached by any one from Delavan to Mason City.  Then if you went down that street slightly you could stop into the post office to see if you knew any one there.  Of course you did.  Then if you needed a little lumber, Bill always was ready to load you up at the next business along the busiest street in town (next to 136).

     For the people who still had livestock they could go clear over to the east side of town, about 6 blocks away and see either Bill or Dick for their feed needs at the feed store.  That would be another place to get the latest gossip as well.  I used to love listening to Dick and my dad tell stories to each other and lies about each other and then laugh their stupid heads off while they were doing it.  If you haven't caught on by now,  this small town was pretty much a farming community.  So like any other small farm town you also had to have an tractor dealer and repair shop.  So when the combine or tractor broke down you would have to make a trip over to Woll's tractor shop.  Ya know it never really dawned on me then but now I think back at it and remeber most of the tractors around the area were John Deere.  Woll's shop was suppose to be a White dealership.  It's no wonder they went out of business.

     Speaking of Woll's,  they used to keep that town a buzzing with dress shops, stores etc.  Along with W. G. Kelley, they owned most of the rest of the town.  Good people and good shrood business people.  Nuf said.  They also had an interest, a strong interest in the Tri-County state Bank.  Again the only bank in town as well.  It was called Tri-County because our fair town had the distinction of bordering 3 counties.  That's pretty weird seeing how small the town really was.

     Even though the town didn't really have a lot to offer in the way of commerce or enrtainment for that matter, there were many advantages to living in a small town.  A thought just occurred to me though.  For nothing really substantial going on in this town, there sure were a lot of places to gather to get caught up on the latest gossip.  I guess that was the entertainment.  Any way getting back to the advantages of a small town.  It was great knowing every one.  You could trust every one and didn't have to worry about being obducted or robbed.  Heck I bet to this day many of the doors go unlocked 90% of the time.  By knowing  every one, that meant you knew your teachers, too and they knew you.  They even knew your siblings and your cousins and could compare your good qualities and your not so good qualities to them.  But that also meant that you could get by with things sometimes too.  I don't know how many times I got out of class just to take care of important things like playing baseball or even car shopping with Miss Price.

     Because there weren't many kids to choose from you always made the sport's team without the worry of try outs.  Although I do remember the girls having to try out for the cheerleading squad.  But that was okay because we would have an assembly that got us out of class to vote on who we wanted to be the cheerleaders for that year for the one sport, basketball, that we had cheerleaders for.  Again, in a small school you don't have enough to field a football team.  Thankfully there were plenty of other extra-curricular activities.  You could be in Donnie-Bill's FFA.  Again, farming community so that was  a biggie.  There was also Mr. Schoeburn's plays.  Play practice consumed about 90% of the school year and about that many of the student body.  Then there was Zim's band and swing choir.  To be honest I feel we always had the very best band around and we can all thank Zim for that one.  And there was my favorite, baseball.  That was coached by either Donnie-Bill (that's sir to you), Coach Coriell, or Turtle Johnson depending on which era you played in.  Another activity that was very popular were the school dances that were held in the high school gym.  Decorating for that was always a chore and a big secret because they didn't want the theme of the dance to be released along with the appearance of the decorations until the night of the dance.

     Now many years have gone by since I have even lived in that small town.  The only reason I have left to go back there any more is to see my mom who still lives on that same farm that I grew up on.  Well that and every 5 years I do go back to the all school alumni banquet.  How many towns can brag about that one now.  The Alumni Committe plans a big suare every year to honor grads from SJHS every 5 yrs.  This major event is held in my old Methodist church where I spent many a Wednesday nights practicing for choir and many Sunday nights joining with friends for MYF.  I loved and still love the events in that old church. Actually, thinking back, there were a lot of things I loved about that little town.  At the time I really couldn't wait to get out of there.  A great philosopher once said "Everybody knows this is nowhere."  It may be.  It may only be a wide spot in the road.  Every one of those businesses that I mentioned may be gone now, but damn it, that's still my home town.  No one can take that away from me.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Purpose Driven Life

     Have you ever pondered the questions of What is the meaning of life or What is my purpose in life?  If you have I'm here to say that you are not the only one who has.  I believe each one of us has a purpose in life.  We were all put here on earth for a reason.  The hardest part is figuring out what your purpose truly is.

     There was a time that I truly thought my sole purpose in life was to make others look good.  The whole time I was growing up I fumbled and bumbled through everything.  I was very accident prone which is evident from the scars all over my body from stitches, broken bones and skin grafts.  As much as I fumbled and screwed up I always tended to make others look like they were so much better at what ever it was we were doing.  As much as that occurred, I just figured that's what I was put on this earth to do.  Make others lookk good.

     To everything, there is a reason.  And a time for every purpose under heaven.  To find what each of our purposes are we need to turn to heaven to see what the man up stairs has to say about that.  God has put forth hundreds of laws, ten commandments and yet only one thing that he requires of us.  That is to do justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.  God put us all on this earth for His glory.  We are to spread His word to every tribe, every tongue and every nation.  We are to love one another through the good works that we do for one another and we are to love the Lord our  God with all our mind, all our soul and all of our strength.  If we would do these things then I believe we would have found the purpose for us to have been put on this Earth.... For go's enjoyment.

     We also need to find a job a vocation in life.  They say if you find the one thing that you enjoy the most in life and get paid for doing it then you never have to actually work a day in your life.  In order to do all the things that God wants us to do for Him and even the things that we want to do that give us pleasure, we still need to have money.  The key is to find the job that you can get into that you can get the most enjoyment out of an fulfillment from.  The business of making money is your job.  But that is not your purpose.  That is merely a means of financing your purpose.  Our purpose in life is our life's work.  Our life's work is loving each other, evagelizing for God, descipling others for God and in the process, worshiping God.  There is a difference in doing your job and doing your work.  Your job brings you money and your work brings you true joy and true fulfillment of your purpose.  We need to do the work that God put us on this earth for because that is our true purpose in life.  We were wonderfully and fearfully made, so we should return the blessing of the life that God gave to us back to Him in praise by doing what it is that He purposed for us to do.  I thank God every day for all the blessings He gives me and I return every one of those blessings back to Him in praise.

    

Friday, February 4, 2011

Toughy Huffy

     Well folks, this one will be a tough one.  I guess it's time a make a tribute to the man I lost three years ago today. my dad.  I spoke at his funeral, but the tears got in the way and choked me up through the whole speech.  So I'll try it again, knowing the tears will come but at least you can read through my tears better than the people at the chuch could listen through them at the service.  So here it goes.

     My dad was  a man who wore many hats, literally and figuratively.  In fact he pretty much had a different hat for every occassion.  He wore the hat of a father of 3, a hat of a husband of 1 for more than 50 years and several hats of the various occupations he held over the 78 years of his life.
    
     He was known for his hats.  He was never seen without one.  He wore the hat of a baseball coach as he worked with Jeff and me in the front yard.  He wore the hat of a farmer, any one of about 50 seed corn hats when he worked around his own farm or for the various other farmers in the San Jose area.  He even had a special starched engineer's hat he wore to work at Caterpillar for 34 years.  In fact we went to tour his building KK at East Peoria one Sunday for the open house that they had that day.  When he came into the plant with an ordinary baseball cap on no one could recognize him without his infamous engineer's hat on.

     Yes over the years he wore many hats.  The one I enjoyed seeing him wear the most was that of a father.  When I lost a father I also lost a friend.  Some one I could always lean on.  Some one I could always talk to.  Now I don't have him or his hats.  There are so many things in my life and my kids' life that he did not get to see.  My best consolation is knowing he now wears a crown of of salvation as he sits next to Jesus on his throne.  It's nice to know that some day I'll be able to see him again.  Maybe we'll go get a new hat so we can sit on a shore and fish together so I can catch him up on all those things he missed here on earth.  Although I'm sure it can't compare to things he could tell me about that I missed while he's been in heavan.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Blizzard

     As most of you know, I grew up on a small farm in central IL.  In 1979 we had one of the worst blizzards on record.  My brother and I raised pigs.  That year we had terrible snows, high winds, and HUGE drifts.  I remember a drift that started at the sow pen and built dramaticlly from there.  It reached the height of our two-story farm house. 
    
     I remeber having to dig the sows that climbed the snow drift that had gone over the fence.  They would get just so far up the side of the drift until it would collapse, trapping the 400 pound sows in the drift.  We would dig around them to release them from their frozen shackles, get them back into their pens and dig a trench along the fence so they couldn't get out again.  Some how Mother Nature had a way of repairing that gap and those sows would get out once again.  This was a real pain in the neck.  A pain in the back as well.

     One of those cold snowy winters of the late 1970's was so bad that the snowplows could not push the snow back off the roads well enough to make two lanes any more.  The road just adjacent to ours (the one that now leads to my sister's house) was on a hill and only had one lane.  My mom had to drive up that hill and was hit head on by an on coming pick up.  Just last year she fianlly got the kne fixed that had been banged up more than 30 years ealier.  Talk about long term affects of a snow storm.

     This week we experienced one of those memorable blizzards that will unfortunately stay in our memories for the next 30 years.  For some of us this is the first big blizzard of our life time.  For those of us who lived through those in the late '70's we now have one to compare them to.  I really don't want to remember this one, but at my ripe old age of 46, I do like to think back to those tough winters from years gone by.  Maybe 30 years from now my kids will reminess about this one like I have about those from the '70's.

     I remember having a lot of extra chores to do around the farm just trying to keep the animals alive.  Jake and Sam will probably remember digging tunnels in the snow.  I remember digging out huge snow drifts behind the car so we could escape for a while.  Jake and Sam will have the memory of their mom running the snowblower for the first and only time to make a path from the house to the part of the lane that actually got plowed out.  I remember falling through the ice on the mighty Prairie Creek when my dad told me not to go out on the ice on one of our many days off from school.  Jake and Sam will probably remember their dog, Titus, falling into the creek that streams off of the Mighty Mississippi.  I remember digging a path along the fence line so the sows couldn't get out of the fence.  Sam will remember shoveling 2 feet of snow out of our shoreline man shed.  Connie will probably always remember the fun of being able to stay at home with our boys and playing with them in the snow during the great blizzard of 2011.

     Well this one is pretty much over.  We can pretty much get out of our property.  They do get to stay home from school one more day.  I pretty much have to go back to work.  God has a way of building memories into this thing we call life.  Life is not the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away.  The blizzard of 2011 took my breath away.  We have an awesome God.  That's all I have to say about that...pretty much.