Whether I was interested or not, I knew this phrase meant I was about to hear a story: “When I was a kid…” The ones I remember the most came from my Mamaw Jo. She often talked about not having electricity and walking to school in the snow. I heard them several, several times. In reality, those tales are a way of saying: “You don’t know how good you have it.” Honestly, that is very true. Recently, I even said that to myself. I know that sounds strange, but this is me we’re talking about here.
One of the things that I love about our house now is the attached garage. When we first moved in, it was new for me and I absolutely loved it. That is until I couldn’t use it anymore. A couple of years ago Tim and I were warned that my car could catch on fire. Until we could get a second opinion on it, I didn’t want to take a chance by parking in the garage. Instead, I parked out in the yard. Obviously, I wasn’t thrilled about this. At all. Let me tell you, I did some major whining about having to walk out to my car in all kinds of weather. One winter morning, I started my car to defrost it before I left for work. When I stepped back outside, I realized it hadn’t defrosted enough and I needed to leave. As I scraped the ice of my windshield, I fussed and fussed. That’s when I had heard myself say: “When I was a kid…”
While I was growing up, our cars sat out in the open. No garage. No shed or coverage of any kind. Also, since we lived out in the country, we didn’t have sewer. Instead, we had a septic tank and a drain field in the front yard. As you probably know, it’s best not to drive over or park on them. So, what did we do? We parked in my grandparents’ driveway, which was off to the west side of our house. It wasn’t a few steps. Rather it was a good little trek. Whether it was a bright sunny day or a blizzard, we walked out into it to reach the car. Personally, what I disliked the most was heavy rain. Not being blessed with coordination, I always struggled with getting my umbrella opened or closed while getting in or out of the car without getting wet. Now, if we had been to the store and had bags to carry in, this made the situation so much worse. In case if you’re wondering about a front porch, we did have one, but it wasn’t covered at that time. I was grown before that happened. So that meant standing in the rain while trying to balance the umbrella and bags as one of my parents attempted to unlock the front door. Sometimes my dad would tilt his umbrella away from his head while unlocking the door. Of course, his head got drenched. I learned really quick not to laugh when that happened. Now that I think about it, that could almost be an Olympic Event.
When I was around nine years old, my parents announced that they were going to build a garage. I was so excited, that is until they told me where they were going to build it. They didn’t want one attached to the house. So, it was going to be detached and sit on the east side. Now, my Papaw EO’s barn was up on the hill behind our home, so the driveway to it ran by the east side as well. Because of that, my parents built the garage on the far side of the barn driveway. This meant it was an even further walk to the car than where it had been sitting. On top of that, we had to keep an eye out for tractors and farm trucks going up down the driveway. On the plus side, we could get in and out of the car with ease when it was raining. By the time we opened up the garage door, we had our umbrellas ready as well as what we needed to carry to the house. Also, the cars weren’t frosted over in the winter time. So, it was better, but not by much.
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
Instead of complaining when I was scaping the ice off of my car, I should have been thanking The Lord that I not only had a car, but most importantly: salvation, my family, a home, and a job. By feeling sorry for myself, I was blinding myself to those blessings and many more.
As for my car, it wasn’t in any more danger to catch fire than any other car. When the mechanic told me that, I replied: “I can park in the garage again?” He reassured me it okay. Now, when I was a kid, I used to jump and clap at good news. I didn’t that day since it would have been appropriate. Instead I did a happy shuffle out of the door.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.