99 Years Ago Today

On this day in 1911 a great man was born. When I came to know him, he was a man of few words but great wisdom. He had a sweet smile that lit up my world. His twinkling blue eyes radiated the love he felt for others but didn’t often put into words.

In his younger days Dee drove a Model T. It wasn’t as easy as turning a key (or pushing a button) to start the car. There was a crank on the front and I remember him telling me that you had to hand crank it, and there was a trick to it. It was best to cup the crank in your palm because if you put your thumb under the handle and it ‘kicked back’ it might break your thumb. Once cranked, he’d run to jump in, especially if it was on an incline. How times have changed.

When I think of all the life he experienced, it humbles me. How can I complain when the house is too hot in the summer realizing that the house he grew up in was cooled only by soft summer breezes and some not so cool? And for years he drove a car that had no air conditioning, radio, even windows.

I remember one story that he told about his younger days. He and his brothers, Henry and Kin, were riding down a dirt road in that Model T. They’d found a pig on the side of the road and picked it up. They came to a check point and, worried they’d get trouble with the law, Kin quickly threw one of their suit coats and a hat on the pig. The officer came over to the car and asked each of them their names. The Bailey boys complied and, from the back seat, the pig squealed. As he walked off, dad overheard the officer tell his partner. “I’ve seen some interesting characters in my time but that Oink Bailey is the ugliest son-of-a-gun I’ve ever seen!” I never knew if that was a true story or very much embellished. Guess I never will. But it brought a smile to a lot of people and it gave Dee great pleasure in telling it.

June 11, 1911. I often wonder what that day was like when that baby boy came into the world. That boy that grew up to be a man who cared about others more than himself. Now, I don’t know what he was really like in his younger years, but I do know what he was like later in life. And I do know that he loved and cared for his family.

Thinking back to Dee’s funeral is almost a blur, but there are a few moments that, after these 14 years, still stand out to me. The pastor of his church and a former pastor spoke and spoke well of him. In both cases, they mentioned that they had been—many times over—the recipients of his generosity. He was famous for handing out $20 bills. Not only to them, but to others too as I soon learned. There were plenty of times, as a college kid, that I wouldn’t have had enough gas to get from home back to college if not for his $20. I had to smile. Funny that none of us had known he was giving to the others. That was so like him. Giving without making a big deal of it. Quiet generosity. Speaking with actions rather than words.

I’m thankful that certain parts of Dee live on in me. I’m thankful that while dad may not have left a fortune, he left a legacy, a legacy I’m still trying to live up to. Most of all I’m thankful for 1911.

That was a very good year.

Are You A Creature of Habit?

Yesterday, I was reminded that we are creatures of habit. What habits have you created? Do they serve you well or do you wish you’d never created them?

A few weeks ago there had been a flurry of roadwork going on in my hometown. (If you’re a Burlington resident, you know exactly what I mean)! Streets were being scraped to make way for new pavement. It was rough driving there for awhile until the new pavement was laid. Wow, what a difference it made, and I came to appreciate something I’d taken for granted all these years: good roadways.

Interestingly, at the intersection of Main and Maple, a traffic flow change had been made. For years, we had been driving up to the intersection with the right lane giving us the option of turning right or going straight; the left lane was for left turns only. Now, according to the signs and painted arrows, the right lane was for right turns only; if you wanted to go straight or turn left, you needed to be in the left lane.

So yesterday, as I stood at the corner waiting to cross, I noticed that 4 out of 6 cars drove straight through the intersection, in the wrong lane. One of them even did this as a car was driving straight through in the correct lane; fortunately, the driver, noticing his error, slowed and let the other go through before he continued down Main Street behind him. I cringed a bit inside, hoping they wouldn’t crash. As I shared this with a friend, she noted, “It’s only a matter of time before somebody crashes.”

That’s when I realized that we really are creatures of habit. No doubt these drivers, just like me, had been driving down Main Street for years in the old traffic pattern. Even with a sign several yards before the intersection that warned of the change, many (if not most) drivers were continuing to go the same route they’d been going.

Does that sound familiar? Are you a creature of habit? Have you been doing things, saying things, believing things simply because you’d done it, said it, believed it for years?

I challenge you to ask yourself, do these actions, words and beliefs serve you well? Or do you find yourself on a downward spiral, ready to ‘crash’ at any minute?

Because of a traffic pattern change, and my own tendency to swerve into the wrong lane, I’ve asked myself that same question. What am I doing, out of habit, that I should change? What am I saying that I should stop saying? What am I believing? And do those beliefs have a solid foundation or should they be changed?

Good or bad, we are creatures of habit. Let’s make sure that you—and I—follow our good habits and rid ourselves of the ones that drag us down before we find ourselves ‘crashing.’

Habitually yours,

Jean