Blood Versus Water

Hi,

All of our lives we heard that blood is thicker than water.  That means that your family will be there for you when no one else will. But that is not always true, though it should be.

I left NJ in 1993 after I graduated from nursing school and moved to Texas. I had my own personal reasons for doing that, which I did not disclose to my family. But it was all for the improvement of my mental health and life.

I had not yet received my official nursing license, but I mistakenly believed that I could work as either a graduate nurse or as a nursing assistant until the official license came through. I lived off of my savings as I applied for other jobs. Just as I was about to work for a local grocery store, my license came thru and I got a job at a local hospital as an RN.

Unfortunately, two weeks after I started the job, my money ran out. I had one more week to work until my payday, yet I ran out of gas for my car. Being new, I did not want to ask coworkers for money and my girlfriend in NJ was also struggling. So I called one of my brothers. He knows who he is. I asked him if he could send me $5- $10 for gas so I could get to work until payday. At the time gas was approximately $.87 per gallen. I swear on my life and the lives of my children that I asked for nothing more. He said no. If I recall correctly, he said no because "they," my family, did not know what I was doing in Texas.

The next day, I drove to work on fumes while I prayed to God. I told God that if he did not take care of me, no one would. At lunch that day, I sat quietly in the breakroom contemplating my dilemma. I had no food either so I had time to think. While sitting there, I noticed a sign advertising an employee assistance program that offered various services and assistance including CASH. I called and was invited down to their office. After explaining my situation, I was given $50 in a grocery store food voucher and $20 cash. It was not a loan. God took care of me that day.

I had another incredible experience a couple of years later. My car broke down on the highway before cell phones were popular. I had no one to call and almost no money in the bank and payday a way off. I sat in my car without options. After a short time, a motorist pulled up...an older white gentleman. He asked about the car and I explained my predicament. He suggested a tow. I advised him that I had no service for that and no money. He offered to tow it for me. He drove me to a nearby gas station, called the tow service and paid for the tow to the shop of my choice. I gave him a post dated check and a promise that the check would be good, then I got in the tow truck with the driver.

The driver asked me if the white gentleman was my boss (go figure that I could not have been his boss). I told him no and that I did not know the gentleman at all. He was floored. He could not believe that a stranger gave me a ride to a phone and paid for my tow with just a promise of being paid back. By the way, I made good on that check.

My point is that strangers saw something in me that my own family did not.  But that is what happens when you look at the bad so long that you no longer see the good. Be sure that I no longer make that mistake. No one is perfect and your evil deeds are no better or worse than mine. The question is, can you own them?