Happy New Year

Happy New Year! 2014 is a new story to be told! There are three hundred and sixty five pages in the book of 2014. Let's write something beautiful on each one!

Beginnings are awesome. Beginnings are scary. I like beginnings. This new year I am planning on doing the whole resolution thing. Why not? I want things to be better and it seems like a good time to start the work towards that. Embarking on a new year reminds me of other "beginnings" in my life.

One beginning that I remember well is when my husband, Tom and I started out on our adventure to move from South Dakota to Texas. It was the summer of 1981. Tom and I were high school sweethearts. We got married shortly after high school and we went to college together. We graduated from college in 1980 and had worked in Sioux Falls, SD for the year after that, saving our money to move somewhere for graduate school. We had thought of going to Boston or Miami, but the school it looked like we could probably afford was UNT in Denton, Texas. It had a nationally recognized music school and jazz studies program and Tom had his heart set on studying Jazz Guitar at a reputable jazz school. I had my heart set on trying to help Tom make his dreams come true.

We had saved a grand total of $1000.00. That doesn't sound like much, but back then it seemed like a lot to us. We borrowed a trailer and hooked it up to our old Oldsmobile. We put every belonging we had in that trailer including all of Tom's guitars and our P.A. system. (It was very important that we had these items as this is the way we made our living...playing music).  It wasn't a very big trailer, but that didn't matter because aside from our musical equipment, we didn't have much stuff.  We headed on our way with a light hearted, positive outlook. We were "looking for adventure"and heading out on the highway. Little did we know, it was going to be a wild ride!

About 200 miles down the road, somewhere in Iowa the hot light went on. Tom pulled the car to the side of the road and as I got out on the passenger side, for some odd reason I bent over and looked under the car. It was on fire! We truly didn't know what to do. Being the genius that I am, I ran out into the corn field and panicked. Tom joined me. There were no real valuables in the car, so it seemed much more important to me to get away from the burning car so that we would not to be blown up on the side of the highway in the middle of a corn field in Iowa. Then, in what seemed like a few seconds a man in a truck pulled over, jumped out of his truck and put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. As quickly as he had done that he hopped back in the truck and drove off. Seriously, we didn't even have time to run over to him to thank him.

Staring at each other with a "what do we do now" look we see a vehicle pull up with a couple, about the age of my parents, in it. They got out of their car and said, "you two look like you need a little help". They proceeded to ask us to get in their car. Ok, now a days...after seeing lots of crime shows, and episodes of "I shouldn't be alive".... I would have never gotten in the car with these strangers, but we were young and foolish and didn't know any better.

If you are expecting a harrowing tale of horror, you will be disappointed. These were the nicest people! They allowed us to stay in the their home that evening, provided us with a tow (apparently, in this little town they knew everyone!) The next day their friend (the local mechanic) repaired the car and it only took a little over $300 of the $1000 that we had saved. We offered to take the couple out for lunch the following day, but they refused to let us pay saying that we better save our money if we were going to continue on to Texas.

And continue on to Texas we did. We were not deterred by this setback. We were young, in love, excited about the future and blessed by witnessing and experiencing the kindness of strangers when we needed help. My mom believes the truck driver who appeared and disappeared was an angel sent by God to protect us. My mom is right about a lot of things, so I'm not going to argue with her. Whether angel or mortal, he was an awesome guy for sure.

It has been 33 years so I don't remember the name of the couple that helped us. I remember the lady on her hands and knees scrubbing her kitchen floor that night after dinner. I got down on my knees to help her. She told me that they had a daughter about my age and they wanted to help because they would hate it if their daughter was out on the rode and had such a problem. The couple lived in a very simple little house. The room we stayed in was more like a storage room with a little bed in the corner. The kindness they showed will never be forgotten. They didn't have much, but they gave of what they had to us. They gave time, shared a meal, opened their home (we could have been drug crazed serial killers for all they knew) and offered many kind words and sage advice. I may not remember their name, but I will never forget the kindness shown by a sweet couple from a little farming town in Iowa.

We made it to Texas! There were a few more adventures on the way that I'll share another day here on my blog.  Much like our trip from South Dakota to Texas there have been a number of setbacks and days when we have stared at each other with a "what do we do now" look. But there have been other kind people we've met, we may not be young any more but we are still in love and excited about the future.

I hope you are too. Please know that beginnings are exciting, but they also can be quite hard. So, as you start 2014....go ahead and head out on the highway and look for your adventure! There will be setbacks, there will be times when you don't know what to do. But forge ahead. Keep trying. Know that God sends His angels in the most interesting ways into our lives.

Happy New Year! Enjoy your wild ride!

Oh..by the way, one of my resolutions is to blog every day...so keep me accountable and follow my blog. I promise to only be positive and encouraging.

PAM