Early in my nursing home ministry days, I purchased a digital audio recorder, to capture some of the fascinating stories the residents shared. I loved the one told us by a ninety-year-old lady about how the children in her one room schoolhouse crowded around one of the few radios in their community to hear President Harding speak back in the early 1920’s.
But the best story came when I got down to my own ninety-seven-year old grandmother’s room. When we asked for a favorite memory, she began to tell us about a ride in her daddy’s first car, at the end of the horse and buggy days.
Though none of the roads were fit to travel after it rained, folks started to purchase cars for family transportation. The fun began when one neighbor made a down payment on a Model-T Ford but was unable to pay it off after the car was delivered. So, he offered the vehicle to my great-grandfather, who agreed to pay the balance.
But before leaving, the salesman, who delivered the car, took great granddad for a driving lesson. As the rest of the family watched, they went up and down the dirt road in front of the farmhouse, until he knew how to operate the vehicle.
Next, both my great-grand parents, my grandmother, and her two younger siblings, climbed into the Model-T for a ride through the pasture. Grandmother explained how her daddy drove slowly around a little lake and back up to the barn on their property.
That first ride in a car, was the biggest thrill of her life—especially when her normally horse and buggy driving daddy rolled up to the corral gate and shouted, “Whoa!”
At this point in her story my grandmother took a breath and then added with a chuckle, “He forgot to put his foot on the brake, and drove right through it!”
Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
Thank you for reading. 🙏❤️ prayers and love.
This piece was first published in the Sunshine Weekly Newsletter, a publication which is shared in nursing homes and assisted living centers. A special thank you to Peter Caligiuri, aka “Pastor Pete,” for inviting me to contribute a monthly column! Peter blogs at praise2worship.net
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