I read a lot of books each year.

A lot!

I usually concentrate on business books.  For instance, right now I am on the 4th chapter of  Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  Sometimes I get to work from home, like today, for instance. So I thought, “What the heck, I’ll sneak in a book just for fun.”  Enter…..DEWEY, The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World, by Vicki Myron.  This little book really, really touched me. A true story about a fascinating cat and a little country library? I’m in!

I figured since it’s almost the weekend, it’s the perfect time to chill out a little bit and not be so quick to work through lunch.  This book about ‘Dewey’ is a real quick read, by the way.  Just make sure you have a box of tissues handy.  It’s simply a sweet story about how a silly little cat who was stuffed into a dropbox in the town of Spencer, Iowa and was ultimately rescued by an unknown indivdual on the coldest day of the year, eventually practiced his own version of rescuing the human beings he came into contact with.  Like I said, it’s simply a very sweet story.

One of the most striking excerpts:

“Find your place. Be happy with what you have.  Treat everyone well.  Live a good life.  It isn’t about material things; it’s about love.  And you can never anticipate love.

I learned those things from Dewey, of course, but as always, those answers seem too easy.  All answers, except that I loved Dewey with all my heart and he loved me in the same way, seem too easy.  But let me try.

When I was three years old, Dad owned a John Deere tractor.  The tractor had a cultivator on the front, which is a long row of shovel-like blades, six on each side.  The blades are raised a few inches off the dirt;  you drive the handle forward to put them in the ground, where they chop into the soil, tossing fresh dirt against the corn rows.  I was playing in the mud by the front wheel of that tractor one day when Mom’s brother came out after lunch, threw the clutch, and started driving.  Dad saw what happened and started running, but Mom’s brother couldn’t hear him.  The wheel knocked me down and shoved me into the blades.  I was pushed along by the blades, passed from one to the other, until Mom’s brother turned the wheel and the inside blade tossed me through the middle chute and left me lying facedown behind the tractor.  Dad scooped me up in one motion and ran me back to the porch.  He looked me over in amazement, then held me in his arms for the rest of the day, rocking me back and forth in our old rocking chair, crying on my shoulder and telling me, “You’re all right, you’re all right, everything is all right.”

Eventually, I looked at him and said, “I cut my finger.”  I showed him the blood. I was bruised, but otherwise, that tiny cut was the only mark.

That’s life.  We all go through the tractor blades every now and then.  We all get bruised, and we all get cut.  Sometimes the blades cut deep.  The lucky ones come through with a few scratches, a little blood, but even that isn’t the most important thing.  The most important thing is having someone there to scoop you up, to hold you tight, and to tell you that everything is all right. 

For years, I thought I had done that for Dewey.  I thought that was my story to tell. And I had done that.  When Dewey was hurt, cold, and crying, I was there.  I held him.  I made sure everything was all right.

But that’s only a sliver of the truth.  The real truth is that for all those years, on the hard days, the good days, and all the unremembered days that make up the pages of the real book of our lives, Dewey was holding me. 

He’s still holding me now.  So thank you, Dewey.  Thank you.  Wherever you are.”

(Copyrighted 2008 by Vicki Myron, published by Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY  10017)

Enjoy your upcoming weekend, Folks!  Enjoy your friends and family…….and remember that everything will be all right, if you’re experiencing any troubles.  And if any of those troubles happen to involve Real Estate, just give me a call or send a message or text. We can sit and talk it all over until we figure out how to best help you.

Chris Hooks, Broker Associate
christinehooks1@gmail.com
856-628-2710 (phone or text)