Little Things Mean a Lot...

...for sure.

I recall one time I was out of a job for a while. It was in Modesto and the truck I was driving belonged to a fellow who had a brother who needed a job so he gave it to him. (Figure that one out!)Anyhow, now I was out of a job. I went to the employment office and signed up and checked the board but nothing was available. I didn't think too much about it for a while but the money kept going with no more coming in and I began to get desperate. For a couple of weeks I made the rounds; the employment office to some trucking company to the employment office to etc, etc, and, oh yes, did I mention, 'etc?'

Then a bad thing happened. I got into a rut and became so discouraged and depressed by not finding a job right away that I just stopped looking. There were a few days when I didn't even get out of bed until the afternoon. It seemed no one knew what to say to me or do about my situation and neither did I, so I just sort of gave up.

I remember drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and playing solitaire and that was about it. Finally my wife asked me if I was ever going to look for work anymore and I told her to shut up and mind her own business and she did stop asking. Of course, the kids needed to eat and the rent needed to be paid but, for whatever reason, that didn't seem to matter to me anymore. All that mattered was not running out of coffee and smokes. I was about as low as I had ever been before and I stopped feeling anything except depression.

Then, guess what; a little nice thing happened that changed everything. I was the dregs of life, a complete failure and no good for anything to anybody. I was broke with very little food in the house and the rent due;-and out of cigarettes, and didn't give a shit anymore. I had had it. I was whipped.

Are you ready? One day I was looking in the closet for a clean shirt for this week. As I moved shirts and jackets back and forth, my little angel told me to look a bit more closely at my jackets. (I guess it was my little angel; it was something) I had a blue sport jacket I hadn't worn for six months or more. I took it down from the closet and took it off the hanger and slipped it on, just to feel it, I guess. The pockets on each side of the jacket had flaps over them. I slipped my hands into each pocket and they felt very cool and slick, like pure silk. I remember thinking, "Gosh, these pockets are sure clean feeling."

Then I slipped my hand into the left, inside pocket and felt something, a piece of paper. I pulled it out and it was two twenty dollar bills, folded together! My heart raced and I felt my face flush and I almost yelped out loud. I called my wife and the kids in and showed the twenties to them! We hugged each other and laughed and for the first time in a month, I actually felt happy!

Are you ready for this? The next day I went out and found a job!

You just never know about things! Sometimes just a little bitty, nice thing can change the world as you know it; usually for the better. To this day I cannot remember putting that money in that jacket pocket. I only know I hadn't worn that jacket for months. I think my angel put those twenties there and planned the whole thing to bring me back to life!

I have another story about my angel that tops this one but I'll save it for later. For right now, I am dedicating this true story to my Texas friend and his family. Maybe he or his wife will have some little nice thing happen to them. I hope so.

Later...