I directed the driver to back his dumper to a particular spot to drop my stone and stood back to watch it fly. As the hatch swung open and the contents began to pour out, I knew immediately I’d received the wrong product.
“Hey…is that limestone screenings you’re dumping?” I asked…knowing the answer.
“Yup. That’s what the ticket says,” he replied.
“Well…when I went to the yard and asked the yard manager about this job and what to order, he said ‘304 limestone’, which is what I have written here and what I called in,” I said, waving the paper I was holding.
“I’m only the driver,” he said, but reached for his phone and called the sales rep.
After a brief conversation where the rep assured me he never made a mistake, I graciously agreed to use the product. I could have forced him to pick it up, but I’m nice that way…and it was cheaper.
When Justin arrived, he was skeptical, but it was there – all twenty-one tons – and we had to start moving it. He loaded the tractor’s bucket and dumped it in front of the manure pit and I began shoveling and raking.
Eight hours later, we’d moved and spread ten tons and my muscles were aching…but loving…the effort. I drove from the farm to a side job I was working before heading home and a little rest before heading off with Jason to move some furniture from my father-in-law’s place. I was limping by the time we reached his front door.
“I’m at 13,000 steps now, so I’m going to conserve from this point on,” I said…but I didn’t.
I knew this would be the last time I would set foot in a place that held so many wonderful family moments. I had watched my children celebrate birthdays and holidays here. I shared many a meal and a laugh with both of their grandparents and observed first-hand the absolute love that passes between family members who would give anything for another moment together. I had been forged in the warmth of this home, and I was seeing it for the last time. We turned out the lights as we walked out the front door, but before Jason closed and locked it, I rang that familiar door-bell just one more time, as I had done for so many years to announce my arrival.
I limped in the house and applied the ice pack, noting that I’d achieved over 14,000 steps again and without a hike of any kind. It was a good day, all-in-all, because I knew in my heart that I’d loved a very special man, that he loved me, and that there were people in my life that felt the same about me.
Bonus: 14,500 steps.
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