The Spirit of Passing It On

After my daughter died, I discovered a side of her that had been hidden from me. She did not toot her own horn, but she gave of herself. If someone needed monetary help and she had some money, she would hand it over. If they needed a hug, she had one. She was pretty selfless when it came to giving of her self. I always called her my labor intensive child as I had to bail her out a lot, so some of the money she handed out could have been mine, and I don't care. But when she came into some money that her Grandfather had set aside, she could have done something great for herself with it, maybe bought herself an apartment or condo, but she went through it pretty fast handing it out, going to her most favorite place in the world, Maui, where I have since heard, you can spend a lot in a short time. But it made her happy.

After June 6th, 2006 I began to hear from people who wanted to tell me how my daughter helped them. So I have now taken on passing it on. I call it to myself the spirit of my daughter, and if I see some one in need, I can spare $20. Or if it appears that there is greater need, a multiple of $20. This started when I was met by a distraught woman with a fantastic story in the parking lot of our local grocery. She needed a specific amount to pay to stay the night so she could see her two children who she was trying to regain custody of after finding a job. It was a wordy frantic story, but I can spare $20. So I gave it to her. I realized on the spot that this was what the legacy of my daughter could be. I can spare $20. The stories may be far fetched, but who am I to judge. My daughter usually had far fetched stories to tell me, but with the basis of love for her, who was I to judge, and, hey, I can spare $20. What I was given in return from my daughter was a quirky love that did not come and go. So I will continue to spare $20 when I see a need. It happened yesterday.

We were in the gas station, best price in town at Love's, and Jack was filling the car and I was knitting a baby blanket, and noted the rig in front of us. It was a truck with the bed filled high with probably household goods, a pet kennel tied on the back, and a tarp over it all. It was a double cab truck with four people and a small child in it. The child was smiling and climbing over the driver who was obviously Grandma, and Grandpa came around to the front of the truck and pushed the hood closed. Jack commented to him that that was a good move. He came over and told us that they had just bought it and were still finding out how good it was. They were from Oklahoma going to Oregon. Entering the State they hit black ice on a bridge, jack knifed, hit the abutment lost control and ended up off the road totaled. The trailer was smashed, one dog disappeared and they never found it, but they had enough money to buy this truck and they were going to make it to Oregon. My husband gave them $60. It was what we had. We got a God Bless which one can always use. And they pulled out onto the road heading for Oregon. May God bless them. As the Grandpa said, we are alive.

So in the spirit of a daughter we will pass it on!