If there was one thing that I wasn't in the mood for yesterday, it was to leave work in Queensbury, drive to South Glens Falls to my brother's, drive back to Queensbury to do his grocery shopping, drive back to South Glens Falls to drop it off, and then drive home. Yet that's exactly what I did.
Now that I no longer live in South Glens Falls, I don't want to have to go back there. But Keith doesn't drive, and he had the Market 32 circular so he had picked out exactly what he wanted and needed me to get it for him. Ugh! I had tried to get him to just tell me what he wanted and I would pick it up and cut down on driving (gas is $4.99) but that's not how he operates. However, he did say that if I wanted a steak or anything, he would buy it for me. Okay then!
At least I knew it would be a quick trip. He only wanted three sets of items, so it wasn't that bad. Started out in the meat section. Success! They only had 2 of his 3 items, but i still counted that as a win. On to the cheese section. Hmm...not as successful as they only had the store brand, and not the name brand that was in the circular. But I cut my losses by getting 1 of the store brand for him to try. Then on to the seafood section!
I didn't need any assistance as I was just looking for pre-packaged seafood salad. I noticed the guy behind the counter and thought he looked familiar. He finished with his customer and then said, "Do you need any help with anything?" I took a good look at him and realized he was one of the students I used to help when I worked in Financial Aid. "Paul!" I said, "it's so good to see you! How are you?"
"I'm doing pretty good." He added shyly, "I actually graduated."
"You did? That's amazing!" I exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you! So what's next for you?"
"Well, I was thinking about going to SUNY Empire."
"And what would you take?"
"Independent Studies to work towards a Human Resources degree. Don't know how I'll do but I'd like to try."
"Paul, I have the utmost confidence in you. If that's your dream, go for it and I think you just might surprise yourself."
And then he said, "Thank you Rita, for all of your help over the years. You were always very nice to me."
"Well why wouldn't I be? Thank you for saying that Paul; it made my day and I was glad to help. I know I'll be seeing you around. Take care."
"Bye Rita."
And that's why God had me run that particular errand for my brother: so I could run into this particular adult student and share in his accomplishment. Paul had struggled, but he never gave up and graduated! I really was proud of him and I hope he gets that HR degree and a great job in the future. Although there's nothing wrong with working the seafood counter at Market 32!
So then I wasn't so mad at my brother. And in honor of this revelation: I went to the bakery and bought a dark chocolate fudge cake, on him. Thanks Keith!
It's always the little things that you don't see coming, that can totally change your attitude and make something tedious into something worthwhile. For that I am grateful 😊 Fudge cake helps too!
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