Julie's Story
This is a story I got from my sister Julie via e mail today.
I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you all.
She has just been through what I think (at least I hope) was the most heart-wrenchingly difficult year of her life. A divorce, financial problems that seemed insurmountable, bankruptcy... You name it, it happened to her last year.
I think every day Julie takes a little more stock in herself. I say it's about time she started figuring out how cool she is.
"When we got home yesterday, we had a PILE of mail. Three items were not garbage. One of the three was Jane's grades, which were MUCH improved from last term, and she was quite proud of herself. Another of the three was a letter from Kraft/Cub Foods, also for Jane, that said, Congratulations! Thanks for entering the 2005 Football Party Sweepstakes! You have won a $100 gift check to Cub Foods! $100!!
I thought about confiscating it and buying lots of boring things like milk and bread. Then I thought, naw. Let 'em have some fun. So we drove to Cub. Jane and Kate had the cart. I followed along behind as they chose their $100 worth of groceries. Blueberries. Mangoes. A cucumber. Fruit leather. A GALLON of chocolate milk. Yogurt. Brown sugar, flour and chocolate chips for making cookies. Of course, they also bought three 12-packs of pop, ice cream, a box of Twinkies, beef jerky, and Jane actually found a BARBIE DOLL that she has been wanting... but overall I was quite impressed at their choices.
It was so funny to watch them dancing around in the aisles at Cub, choosing things to buy for themselves. She was very generous. She let Katie choose several items, and she kept telling me to pick things for myself. I chose marshmallow pinwheels. Our refrigerator is overflowing with snack food. $100, and the only thing from the whole trip that I could make into a dinner is macaroni and cheese.
In the car on the way to the store, Jane said, "It really would have been better if we had gotten this last year when we were so poor." I said I had been thinking the same thing, but this way they could spend it on fun things.
She asked me, "What was the worst time of your life, ever?"
I said,
"Last year."
"Because you had to file bankruptcy?"
"That was the easy part. The hard part was trying to keep food in the fridge when we had no money. The hard part was telling you guys you couldn't go to camp, and knowing you both needed glasses and I had no idea how I was going to pay for them."
She was quiet for a minute, and then said, "That makes me want to cry. Let's not talk about it any more."
Then, the whole time we were shopping, and after we got home and were putting everything away, she kept hugging and kissing me and telling me what a great mom I am.
Jeez."
I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you all.
She has just been through what I think (at least I hope) was the most heart-wrenchingly difficult year of her life. A divorce, financial problems that seemed insurmountable, bankruptcy... You name it, it happened to her last year.
I think every day Julie takes a little more stock in herself. I say it's about time she started figuring out how cool she is.
"When we got home yesterday, we had a PILE of mail. Three items were not garbage. One of the three was Jane's grades, which were MUCH improved from last term, and she was quite proud of herself. Another of the three was a letter from Kraft/Cub Foods, also for Jane, that said, Congratulations! Thanks for entering the 2005 Football Party Sweepstakes! You have won a $100 gift check to Cub Foods! $100!!
I thought about confiscating it and buying lots of boring things like milk and bread. Then I thought, naw. Let 'em have some fun. So we drove to Cub. Jane and Kate had the cart. I followed along behind as they chose their $100 worth of groceries. Blueberries. Mangoes. A cucumber. Fruit leather. A GALLON of chocolate milk. Yogurt. Brown sugar, flour and chocolate chips for making cookies. Of course, they also bought three 12-packs of pop, ice cream, a box of Twinkies, beef jerky, and Jane actually found a BARBIE DOLL that she has been wanting... but overall I was quite impressed at their choices.
It was so funny to watch them dancing around in the aisles at Cub, choosing things to buy for themselves. She was very generous. She let Katie choose several items, and she kept telling me to pick things for myself. I chose marshmallow pinwheels. Our refrigerator is overflowing with snack food. $100, and the only thing from the whole trip that I could make into a dinner is macaroni and cheese.
In the car on the way to the store, Jane said, "It really would have been better if we had gotten this last year when we were so poor." I said I had been thinking the same thing, but this way they could spend it on fun things.
She asked me, "What was the worst time of your life, ever?"
I said,
"Last year."
"Because you had to file bankruptcy?"
"That was the easy part. The hard part was trying to keep food in the fridge when we had no money. The hard part was telling you guys you couldn't go to camp, and knowing you both needed glasses and I had no idea how I was going to pay for them."
She was quiet for a minute, and then said, "That makes me want to cry. Let's not talk about it any more."
Then, the whole time we were shopping, and after we got home and were putting everything away, she kept hugging and kissing me and telling me what a great mom I am.
Jeez."
1 Comments:
Wow ... I love Jane!
Post a Comment
<< Home