A person can certainly meet some interesting people over the course of a lifetime. Take, for example, the woman I met this morning at the laundromat. I never got her name, but for purposes of this post, I'll call her Luann (I reconfigured the first four letters of the word laundromat...and added an 'n.' What do you know about that?)
This is what I learned about Luann: She is the daughter of a Croatian immigrant. Her father came to this country at age 13 as a cook's helper. He traveled alone to New York City in about 1905 because his mom died of cholera when he was 11 and his dad was a fisherman and died in a boating accident when Luann's dad was just three years old. Luann told me he was not completely alone in New York City, as a couple of his siblings lived there, but one brother wanted to send him back to Croatia for fear he would have to take responsibility for him. Luann was quick to tell me her dad was providing for that particular brother just five years later.
Luann described her father as her hero. He overcame a lot in his lifetime, she said. And in fact, her first story of his heroism involved kicking the smoking habit cold turkey. Luann's father never shared with his family "what the doctors said," but Luann suspects that they told him if he didn't quit smoking it would kill him. Well in 1960, there weren't a lot of programs to help smokers kick the habit, so Luann's dad did it on his own. He chewed lots of celery, carrots, and gum, she said. After six weeks, he had a very sore jaw, but it was getting easier for him to resist cigarettes, and he primarily chewed gum. After three months, he didn't need to chew as much gum to keep the need for nicotine away, and by six months, if someone came into his presence after smoking even one cigarette, he'd say, "You stink. Go take a shower and wash your hair."
Luann told me, "One thing my dad said that I hear, even in my mind today, is stop your belly achin.' If you look around, there are folks a lot worse off than you, so stop your belly achin'."
We, and by we I mean society, would do well to heed this sage advice. If we all complained a little less, worked a little more, and helped someone who needs help, perhaps we wouldn't find our collective selves so...needy.
Oh, the people you meet...and the wisdom they share.
