Many times I have talked about the large amount of magazines I have accumulated over the years. Some are very old and it is hard for me to trash without going through each one to clip out articles of interest, recipes, DIY projects, etc.
Found this photo when searching through one on garden ideas.
Instead of focusing on the lovely variety of flowers, my mind immediately went to the red wagon and a memory from my past.
I was in high school when my parents divorced after years of hell, both for my mother and for me, my older sister, and younger brother.
The divorce left us without a home, which my father had lost to foreclosure, due to his spending and wasting money on alcohol and having a good time with others. It also left us without any means of transportation. This might seem like a small thing, but not having a car was a really big deal to teenagers, we had to rely on others for rides everywhere!
Even the smallest task of bringing food into our new apartment was a big deal. In steps the red wagon, if we wanted to eat we had to walk blocks to our local grocery store pulling the red wagon behind us.
Mom made sure we all went along on these grocery trips. As teenagers we felt somewhat humiliated pulling a child’s wagon filled with bags of food back to our new “home”. Especially humiliating for me, the prissy child, caring to a fault what others thought of us. I remember just praying that no one I knew saw us, saw our family parade with the red wagon.
We were poor, and after the divorce, I hoped things would get better for our family. The arguments were gone, horrible ones between my mother and father, but the hurt and sadness, especially for my mother, lingered for some time. Mom did her best to make this apartment a home, and eventually we settled into our new lives.
My sister saved us when she landed her first job and was able to buy a new car.
God never gives us anything we cannot handle, including pulling a red wagon.
Love to all of you today, with a special hug to my sister for that big black new car she brought home over 50 years ago.
Blessings.