A Friendly Perspective

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If you’re just joining this blog, I am currently doing a series. Feel free to read my blogs from previous weeks to catch up.

Here goes . . .

I was asleep (in a coma) or dazed and confused during most of my time in the hospital, so my stories are limited. I do remember a significant story about August 31—the day the Drs. released me from the hospital. That afternoon the hospital threw a party for me and another boy they released. We said goodbye to those who had taken care of us and become our friends, we at cake, and a local news station sent a reporter to interview us.

After the Drs. warned my mother that I would not begin walking for 2 years and I would remain a vegetable, she wheeled me out to the car, strapped me in, and we took off. Sometime later, driving north on Interstate 5, the car ran out of gas, and my mother coasted over to the side of the freeway. She got out, came around to my side of the car, unstrapped me, and carried her 7 year old child (me) down the shoulder of the freeway toward a gas station.

Moments later, a beige car pulled over to the side of the freeway, my mother strapped me into the back, and she got into the passenger’s side. I didn’t understand how my mother could be so calm, sitting in a car with a guy who had a shotgun between him and my mother. I didn’t say anything about it. Well, that I can remember. Sometime later, it dawned on me that the man who picked us up was an undercover cop. I wonder if subconsciously his help left such an impression on me that that’s why I spent many of my childhood years wanting to be a police officer, and even now I have a deep seeded respect for police.

Sometimes, when help comes our way, we don’t realize it’s the help we need because of our perspective on life. That’s why it’s important to surround ourselves with people who have our best interests in mind and can identify others willing to help us. Whether it’s finding a trustworthy mortgage broker, realtor, other person to do business with, or potential employee, friends are important. Had it not been for my mother, I would have never gotten into that beige car. Of course, I wouldn’t have been there had it not been for her, but I am sure you understand my point. Friends are important because they have our best interests in mind, and they can give us a different perspective on our circumstances.

It’s easy, in this current economic climate, to hide our money and not trust anyone with our business. Of course, hiding our money is part of the reason we’re here. Perhaps if we surround ourselves with people we trust, then ask them to help us find other trustworthy people to do business with, we can begin to come out of this economic funk.