Pitching In

One of my aunts has been having some pretty serious health issues. She’s been in and out of the hospital several times over the last few months.

Most of her issues come down to breathing. She’s got OCPD, emphysema, asthma, allergies and she was a smoker for about twenty years. She quit smoking twenty years ago but the damage was done.

On top of all that, she’s overweight and carries the bulk of her weight in her upper body, so her heart is working overtime.

The last time she was in the hospital, her doctor advised her to replace the carpet from her bedroom with laminate flooring or linoleum.

Well, obviously, the poor woman can’t do all that herself, she can barely breathe.

So my mom put out the call. All able-bodied people should show up at my aunt’s house on Saturday to help clean, tear up carpet, etc.

I talked to Tom about it and he agreed to be home with the girls while I went over and did what I could to make my aunt’s home friendlier to her health.

As I was arriving, my aunt and her husband were leaving to go buy new flooring. My mom already had most of the carpeting and the under padding pulled from the floor and we got to work cleaning. We dusted, we degreased, we vacuumed.

My cousin and her daughter showed up and my mom put them to work cleaning my aunt’s van.

We’d been at work for about three hours when my aunt and her husband arrived with the flooring. They’d been told at the store where they purchased the flooring that laminate would have to be glued down and due to the fumes of the glue, my aunt wouldn’t be able to sleep in that room for two weeks.

So they went with laminate flooring. Except…no one knew how to lay the stuff. No one had put down flooring like that.

No one except one of my other aunt’s husband. And he’s 71 years old. Well, no one but the uncle and…Tom. Yes, he’d laid that kind of flooring in three rooms in the house we sold last January.

So at 5pm on Saturday evening, I called him. He and the girls were only four miles away. I told him I’d come home and take over with the girls if he’d come see what he could do.

He told me to give him a few minutes to gather his stuff (tools, a saw, etc) and he’d call me.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into my aunt’s driveway. The girls were thrilled to be there. They love gatherings. Alyssa immediately found work for herself and Olivia was quick to avoid the two dogs that rule my aunt’s house.

We were there until after 10:00 that night. Tom and my cousin Aaron worked hard and got the floor done. Olivia fell asleep in my arms as I stood watching Tom and Aaron work.

One thing I’ll say about this family of mine, we sure can come together and get things done. When one of our own is in need, we step up and pitch in. I hope most (dare I hope all?) families are like this, rallying around and making things happen when someone needs them.

Bonus? Alyssa earned $1.85 from my step-dad for all her hard work. She was desperate to go back the next day and see if she could earn more. I'm not sure what lesson she learned in the end, though. Give you shall receive? Or Papa is always good for a buck and change?