For those of you who have never experienced a Midwestern winter, let me tell you, they are beyond cold. Right now, the cold snap going thru has us at temperatures of well below zero for the high, once they've been adjusted for wind. My windows are frozen up in my car. Anyway, the cold is just part of Michigan, and Doc and I agree that it's worth it for the perfect summers.
Obviously, at temperatures plummet, homeless shelters begin to fill. With the poor economy, particularly in Michigan, all shelters are at capacity and they have to turn people away. Many shelters don't have the budgets to even keep their doors open. I saw some parents with little kids getting off the city bus today to walk from the stop to wherever they needed to go. Our friend is an elementary school teacher in Kalamazoo and he says that many of his students don't have hats, coats, gloves, and/or boots. Many families have to call and bargain with the power or gas companies to keep their heat on.
In my life, I take many things for granted. Living as a student for the past 8 years of my life (and for the next 5) I often think of myself as a "have not," looking forward to the day when I can have a paycheck and health benefits. But this weather truly has humbled me. As I see those people lined up outside the shelter, or those freezing kids waiting for the bus, I remember that I have many things to be grateful for. I have a warm house with a furnace I can pay to keep running. I can send my daughter (and husband) to school with full bellies, warm coats, hats, mittens, and boots. I have a reliable car that also has heat and can take us to our destinations with ease and convenience. Doc and I are working very hard in school so that we can have good careers to provide for our families, and I realize how lucky we really are to even have that opportunity.
I'm just glad to be in my warm house, dry, with the furnace turned up, blogging and eating. Hopefully I can remember just how lucky I am.
4 comments:
I totally agree. We are struggling right now with everything that's going on (like the rest of the nation) but AT LEAST we have the basic necessities of life. I have never been so grateful for the little things.
About the MI summers - while they are very nice, are totally not worth it in my opinion. I'd rather suffer through 3 months of unbearable heat than 9 months of unbearable cold! You guys are crazy :)
It is definitely humbling to see people who have so much less. Especially in this brutal winter. I feel blessed to have so much.... thanks for the reminder! And I agree that the summers make it totally worth it!! Michigan summers rock!
So true, I was just noticing the homeless shelter in SLC the other day, weather's not quite as drastic, but same general idea. Congrats on the pregnancy by the way! You are crazy: school, work and 2 kids! Good luck, I'm sure you can manage it all just fine!
Jim has been assembling and chauffering food boxes all over the state for some time now. It absolutely devastates him to see long lines of people who are so grateful for just a little stuff -- things that will provide an extra two or three meals. I'm so grateful for the many things God has blessed me with. And I'm thankful, now 30+ years down the pike, to have taken my mom's example and the Church's teachings about self-sufficiency seriously in the early years of my marriage. I think it's partly because of doing so that we have a paid-for house, savings (much lower, alas, since the stock market dump), and skills to care for ourselves during lean times.
Jensie, congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope it goes well and that you and the baby are safe & healthy throughout.
Lisa Gottlieb-Kinnaird
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