Happy Friday Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day on this absolutely beautiful 4th of July morning!
This is my first Happy Friday from Texas. When I would sit and write Happy Friday in Arizona I would sit at our kitchen table and, when searching for the right word, I would look out the window to my left and gaze at the beautiful view over the 8th fairway of the Kokopelli Golf Course. Now? I am staring at the back of a parking garage!!! :) Ah, lest you think this is a bad thing, I know that I can walk less than 50 yards and drop a line in Galveston Bay, something by the way that my Tender Warriors and I have already done a couple of times in less than a week. Yes indeed Friends, I am blessed!
There is so much I want to share with ya'll (the boys gave me a hard time about saying that last night...hey, when in Texas do as the Texans do!) this morning. I didn't get to write Happy Friday last week because, well, I was on day 3 of our journey to Texas! So much has happened, I have learned so many lessons, I thought I would just throw a few of them out there this morning for you.
Packing for the great adventure went well...remember, it is all about perspective. We ended up needing two U-Haul trucks (bad...we have too much stuff!) however it all fit (good...I think!). As we were packing I was getting increasingly frustrated that we had so much stuff, wondering why we had so much stuff, repeating over and over again that we are getting rid of stuff, etc. My Beautiful Bride was the main receiver of my thoughtless, mindless comments...as though all of the stuff is hers or somehow, some way she is exclusively responsible for us having all of this stuff. Pretty soon guess what happens? Yeah, slowly I have one son, then another and finally another complaining about all of our stuff...and their comments are aimed at Mom as well. I wish I could tell you that I recognized at that moment what was happening and stopped. I didn't. No, it wasn't until the most beautiful big green eyes in the world looked at me, full of hurt & pain, a word not spoken, that in an instant I realized the damage I was doing, the hurt I was causing. I immediately stopped with the comments and got the trucks loaded. Guess what? The boys stopped making comments as well. I went to Kath, apologized for the things I had said and told her how much I appreciated all she had done. My heart still hurts thinking about it...
Another great reminder during this time is how small acts of kindness, how friendship, truly matters. A sweet lady who we met at the garage sell we had a week earlier and her two kids stopped by and dropped off slushes from Sonic. Didn't ask us what we liked, didn't tell us she was going to do it...she just did it. It truly touched all of our hearts. We had four friends stop by and just help. We would have been there for several more hours had these sweet people not just stopped by to help any way they could. It was overwhelming and humbling to see their selfless sacrifice for us. They inspire me...that is the type of friend I want to be! Thank you Adam & Danielle, Michelle & Katlyn.
With the trucks all packed it is now time for me to take my 26' U-Haul back to U-Haul so they can put the trailer on the back of it so I can tow our Tahoe (gulp). I drive a Toyota Corolla, O.K.? I am NOT looking forward to driving this truck over 1100 miles pulling a Tahoe. The stress level is high. It all gets hooked up, my great Little Warrior Landry has to ride with me because when you are 9-years old this is very cool. As we are driving back to the house I am thinking not good thoughts, praying - knowing this is the only hope we have, etc. All of the sudden I hear this sweet little 9-year old voice say, "this is the coolest thing ever!" It jolted me out of my thoughts. In that moment, and over the course of the next 3 days as we bumped along to Texas, I drew strength from my Little Warrior. He wasn't worried about a thing - he was with his Dad, we were in a big truck...life is good. We had such a great time riding together, talking mostly non-stop...so thankful for that time and for him! :) Yes, it was in fact the coolest thing ever.
I love the quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that says, "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being." I saw this in action during the course of our move. Payton & Gehrig truly amazed me. From Payton driving my car all the way to Texas to Gehrig calling U-Haul when he was riding shotgun with me and some warning lights came on...they were clutch. The time that touched my heart the most however happened on Saturday. Did ya'll know it gets pretty humid in Houston?!?! I knew it got humid however I had no idea it got THAT humid. Anyways, it was sweltering. We unloaded one U-Haul into storage on Friday evening and now on Saturday we are unloading the other. We had unloaded most everything into the apartment and we had to now go back and put more stuff into storage. I am drenched. I am on my 3rd shirt, my shorts, socks & shoes are drenched...I really look like I have hopped into the shower with all of my clothes on. As we get to storage I am starting to get light headed and beginning to cramp pretty bad - people who made fun of or were critical of LeBron James have no clue! As I bent over and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath, and hopefully not pass out, Payton looks at me and then gets the funniest, most compassionate look on his face. He knows that his Dad is in trouble and he knows that I know he knows. All of the sudden all of the little brotherly bickering, fighting, arguing, etc. stops. The wandering around stops. All of the sudden both of the boys are totally focused. All of the sudden they can lift things they couldn't lift before. The "Dad, come and get this" is replaced with, "Dad, we got this." It was amazing. Exhausted, I can tell you I honestly stood in awe of my sons.
The last lesson from these past two weeks I want to share with you happened on Monday - my first day at work. I had a lunch with two amazing women...my new bosses. We were driving to lunch, they in the front seats, me in the back. We were driving down Seawall Blvd and I looked out the car window to my left and all I see is the Gulf of Mexico. It is beautiful! The waves are rolling in and I am staring at miles and miles of ocean...right there! For an Arizona native this is amazing! I don't ever want the beauty of this to fade, for me to no longer appreciate it. I think back to being in athletics at ASU and having the privilege of working at Sun Devil Stadium every day. I think back to St. Mary College. I used to go to the office early and as the sun would rise each morning the light would reflect off of one of the water fountains and it gave an appearance of a fountain of fire...awe inspiring in it's beauty. I think back to standing on the practice fields at Eastern Arizona College and looking about at majestic Mt. Graham. Beauty surrounds us every day Friends! I pray that our hearts & minds don't get so calloused that we fail to recognize it!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a safe & Happy 4th of July and please cherish your precious families!
Kev
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