There are times when people are put in your path just when you need them. I am grateful for such moments.
Our family moved to Kansas in 1979. It was those precious years of raising a young family. My kids were 8, 6, 6, 4 and 2. We lived a few miles outside of Topeka on a 3-acre lot and loved that place.
It was there that I met Sandy. She was a bright and happy person and we shared that experience of having young children and husbands just getting started in their careers. Those were lean years where we learn new skills to help us achieve our goals. Let me share three examples.
Sandy and I both sewed clothes for our kids. We'd always look for sales on cloth and let each other know. And we ventured into new projects. Stretch fabrics were new so we decided to learn how to make t-shirts. We headed to the store together and found some cotton stretch t-shirt fabric and bought a bolt since it was on sale. Our kids all ended up with the same matching t-shirts in two styles - girls and boys. The kids actually thought it was fun!
Then my husband and I decided to add an addition onto our small home. Sandy and her husband had built their home and she was handy with just about anything. So she offered to show me how easy it was to spray paint instead of using a roller.
I bought my paint and prepped the room. Sandy brought her sprayer and we began. I was excited to watch this process. But as she began, red splotches covered my ceiling! Oops! We learn quickly the importance of cleaning the spray thoroughly when changing colors. I remembered the frustration we both felt as we sat on the floor crying!
Our next big project was landscaping. It's so hard to have a vision of what you'd like your yard to look like and not be able to afford the materials. We just wanted landscape timbers to surround our flower beds and set them off. And then we heard that the railroad was redoing one of the tracks that ran north of Topeka. They left the old railroad ties in piles here and there and you could help yourself if you could find them.
Sandy and I got a county map that showed every little road that crossed the rail line and our adventure began. We'd get the kids off to school in the morning and begin our search. We certainly got to know the back roads in our area. It was a delightful ride, a scavenger hunt. We'd find the spots and mark the map. Our husbands would go and get the railroad ties the following weekend.
What fun it is to have such a friend. Sandy and I shared so much during our short stay in Kansas. We moved on to Tennessee and they ended up in California. But for those two years in Topeka she was a godsend, a special friend who blessed my life.
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