Tender Mercies

The back of our Subaru was heavy with home-canned green beans, pasta sauces, and meats, rice, wheat, dried potatoes, raw honey, plenty of spices, and an entire ice chest full of frozen goods. My mother and grandma-in-law had sent us home with food to last us quite some time.  When I was young, I remember hearing stories from my parents when they were in college and first married, not having enough income to buy each other Christmas presents. Their cupboards were pretty scarce, yet they were able to make due by focusing on the importance things in life.  Fast forward 21 years later to 2012. As a newly married lady with my husband working full time in the Army and myself working part time as a skating coach, we fared well. There was always money to do what we wanted while also saving for the future. I had not yet experienced that feeling of living paycheck to paycheck.  4 years later we have found ourselves in a different scenario. We are both back in school w...

I stood there looking at my grocery list and back in the produce shelf to decide what vegetable I was going to substitute for the not-on-sale-vegetable I had on my list.  As I made my decision and picked up some crisp cabbage, an employee passed by while pushing a cart full of peaches and asked, "Have you tried these peaches? They're delicious!" "Yes I have, in fact I canned some just last night," was my response. Without saying much besides a smile, she slipped into the back and I continued on with my shopping. A few moments later she reappeared and came directly towards me.  Reaching out for my hand she said, "How old are you?" "25." I replied. She continued to shake my hand. "Congratulations. There aren't many 25-year-olds who know how to can these days."  I can tell you that I was pretty blown away by her kindness and her effort to go out of her way and show me that I did something awesome. Later, when I ...