Even Angels Make Lemonade
When I was young and naive, I joined a company where I thought I would stay...
The stay only lasted two years, as the President turned out to be a crook.
I had, at that time a young wife...one whom I had hurt by joining this company against her
better judgement and who had seen from the first where this would go.
When I got wise and realized that she was right all along, it was too late to save the marriage.
There I was, no wife, no home, no job, $14,000 in debt, and the creditors at the door. I was
staying at my mother's house at the time...and being alone one night, I decided to call one of
the people I used to work with. He wasn't home, but I spoke to his wife. She had been one
of our secretaries, and I knew her as well. As we spoke of things going on, and the things
past, she interupted me in mid sentence. "Dan, don't do It!" "Do what?", I asked. "I know
what you're thinking, and it's not worth it." She then proceeded to tell me how she would not
be alive if someone had not found her after she tried to commit suicide after her first
divorce. "So, don't do it!" It was like being hit in the face with cold water!
After hanging up the phone, I realized that she had heard something in my voice to spark
her comment, and I would have killed myself that night had it not been for her. I tried to
sleep, but to no avail. I decided to go to see an old friend whom I had worked with when I
was a youngster. He drove a bread truck, and I used to help him with deliveries. When I
saw him I told him that I had nowhere else to go, and didn't know who else to talk to.
Without hesitation he said, "How much do you need...1,000, 2,000...5,000?" "No, I just want
to borrow a few hundred dollars to keep the creditors at bay until I can get myself a job."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a roll of bills, handed me $200 and said, "Call me
tomorrow!" A second dose of that cold water.
When I called the next day, he had gotten me a job driving one of the bread trucks. I
worked for almost a year at that job, paying off most of the creditors in that time. And
every time that I wanted to give back the $200 he would say, "Put it in your pocket, you need
it more than I do".
That was long ago and seems like a different lifetime. Yet, I still remember vividly those two
angels who helped me to still be here to write this for you. Yes, I was a real lemon...They
made me into lemonade which can't thank them enough!
Copyright © Daniel Cwiak | Year Posted 2010
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