Yesterday morning, when I arrived at work, I noticed that my car had a hug amount of steam/smoke rising from the hood. It looked like the radiator. I took video.
Yes, I had a cracked radiator. I’ll be postponing my celebration of paying off my loan. The replacement ran $360 which of course I did not have. Thanks momma. (I have to pay her back.) I can’t wait to build up a nest egg.
Yesterday evening, my father called to inform me that one of my cousins passed away (on 2/14). I don’t remember meeting the guy but, I know some of the other relatives that were close to him, including his mother (my aunt) and his sisters.
I intended to come home to wait for the interment but, I fell asleep. I didn’t make it to the repast; I may stop by tomorrow.
Tonight is Wednesday so I had Midweek (church service in the middle of the week). My mom went to the service with me. We had a visiting evangelist from Nassau who spoke on the topic of showing the value of Christianity by being loving (kind) to others. One scriptural reference was James 2:14-17. I felt like that was something that I’ve waited to hear but did not know that I was waiting to hear it.
Following the service, we stopped by my grandfather’s place since he lives near the church. As usual, he let Teenie come upstairs. She was a bit stinky so, I told him that I could wash her. He agree. This was the first time that I’ve washed her since we gave her to him. My grandfather sat near the tub that I used to wash her, handing combs and brushes to me throughout the process. He gave me towels as I neared completion of the process. I dried her body and he dried her head. Next, we took her upstairs to groom her coat.
This is the man that I was terrified of as a child. According to the family stories, everybody was scared of him. After we finished taking care of Teenie’s hygiene, he thanked me for washing her. I told him that it was a pleasure. His response showed that he thought that I meant that I found washing her to be pleasureful (it was). I actually meant that it was a pleasure to do work with my grandfather.
While I can say that I don’t pleasure in needing to shell out money for a radiator, I am thankful to have a vehicle and that my mother could front me the loots for the time being. In my town it is much easier to get around with one’s own vehicle than public transportation. I think that DC, NY and Boston figured understand that public transportation is better when it is implemented to serve as an efficient alternative, not just an alternative. I wouldn’t mind studying such systems someday to figure out how and why they were designed the way that they are.
Funerals are generally sad for me in the sense that I am aware of the grief of those who mourn. On the other hand, some funerals come with the jewel of seeing family, hearing stories, and receiving history references.
I missed the name of the evangelist from Nassau but, his words diced me up a bit. I need to get on the good foot. This is something that I can do. I don’t have to wait until it is something that I am comfortable doing.
I am pleased to be in a position to get to know a 90 year old man. Especially one who still has his wits about him. For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has sought a relationship with God. He’s kept Jesus on his mind and has been open to having him as a guide for his life. I really didn’t understand the significance of keeping Jesus in one’s life in my younger years (this is obvious to those who know how wasteful I was with my life in the beginning). Now that I’ve started my journey with Jesus and am no longer petrified of my grandpa, hanging out with him is very pleasant. I need to make more time to see him, especially since he is one of the my only two remaining grandparents.