More Thoughts From the Past

More Thoughts From the Past

Welcome to Christianity Oasis. This is More Thoughts From the Past from our Sojourn With Luz Leigh Collection. We hope you enjoy this enlightening reading and it helps you on your own be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

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Sojourn With Luz Leigh

More Thoughts From the Past

Submitted by Luz Leigh - 06 November 2009

This was written many years ago when I first began putting my thoughts on paper so that my children could remember me.

The thoughts today turn again to the past. The following are just recollections, not in any particular order and definitely not connected.

At the breakfast table, Jack and I were talking about some recent robberies that occurred at a couple of banks in a nearby city and at two motels in a city about ten miles from us. One thing led to another and we had a good laugh about the time Brand's General Merchandise Store in our little town was robbed. Not that the robbery was funny, but a certain story that came out of the incident was. Seems that one summer afternoon Mr. Brand (Adam, to Mrs. Brand), was near the front door of the store when a couple of robbers entered. They announced their intention to Mr. Brand who informed them the money was at the rear of the store. Mrs. Brand was working at the back of the store near the cash register and was not aware of the robbery in progress. As Mr. Brand came near the register, he told Mrs. Brand to give the men the money. To which she replied, "How much?" This may or may not have been the exact way the event happened, but it makes a good story when a group of people get together to tell tall tales about how tight the Polish people are. We may all joke about their tightness, but how many do you see on the welfare rolls? Those folks work hard, take care of their families and help their neighbors. Most of the Polish people I have lived around fulfill the scripture where Jesus admonished us to "Love thy neighbor." Matthew 19:19.

Today, look around you and see who you can help. When you see the need, ask the question that Mrs. Brand posed, "How much?" and then give your all.

When I was about 5 years old a lady from Refugio, Texas, was in town on family business. My dad was administrator of the estate of this lady's mother-in-law. My parents had known her for many years so when she asked if she could take me to the drug store for an ice cream cone, they agreed. Well, this lady was different from the women I knew. Looking back, I can sort of understand some of her actions, but at the time, to us she was almost an eccentric. After we got our ice cream cones, and you can bet your last dollar that mine was chocolate, she took me over to near the railroad tracks where a large pile of crushed white rock had been stockpiled. Probably for road repairs. I played on that pile of rocks for ages that afternoon and had more fun than you can imagine. The rock pile was only about a block from our house as the crow flies, but was not visible because there were railroad cars parked on the siding.

After a while the lady suggested we return to my home. I reluctantly left the rock pile. Being near the tracks which ran behind the cotton gin was quite exciting to me. That area was off limits to me, and most other kids my age, because off the potential danger, so it was especially enticing for me to be there. I felt safe because an adult who was a family friend was with me and I never dreamed my parents would be beside themselves with worry! They had no idea where we were because there were not many sights of interest in our little town. They could not figure out where we had disappeared to. As a parent and grandparent now, I can understand what Mother and Daddy must have been going through as they waited for us to return, but at the time I could not understand their behavior when we finally walked up to the house. Both of my parents had words to say to the lady about her actions and when she had bid them goodbye, their attention turned to me.

I remember Mother holding me and with tears in her eyes, telling me how worried she had been about my whereabouts for several hours. I kept trying to reassure her and Daddy that I had only been playing on the rock pile, running up and down, sliding, rolling, while the friend sat nearby and watched. That was the day my parents explained in great detail what could happen to a child if an adult one trusted turned out to be not trustworthy. It scared me to think of what might have been, but in the far reaches of my childish mind, there were memories of the fun I had that day in that forbidden place.

The friendship between my parents and the lady was strained after that because she was hurt they would think she was capable of harming a child (she had two sons, but no little girl). I was disappointed that I could no longer spend time with her, doing the fun things she could think up to entertain a very country child. We still have one of the sea shells she gave me prior to this episode. I had never heard the sea "roar" before. In fact, I was grown before I ever saw the ocean, and then it was the Gulf of Mexico.

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