Confidence Built

More about Fred. Fred was a kind man. I don't recall him ever getting angry though I'm sure he did as all humans do. While he was in the Navy, he picked up a cute little southern bride . She worked like a work horse. She seemed much more intense than Fred to me but all this is my recollection. Perhaps another would think differently. Even though they were both Christians their marriage ended in divorce which sadden me deeply. I don't know the reasons but it seemed so strange to me that they couldn't work it out. The ex-wife went back to her people in the south and Fred lived alone for a few years and eventually remarried. Fred died some years ago but his influence on my life lives on.

When I think of his influence in my life I am reminded of how much one can touch another for the future. Fred always gave the boy workers the really heavy work. (though I remember throwing hundred pound potato sacks which I still feel today in my left shoulder). He was aware, though, that there was a difference in the physical strength of a boy and girl. As I got older and got my driver's license, Fred asked me if I cared to drive a truck to market. I was so thrilled that he would give me such a heavy responsibility. Being a kid that loved to drive (and still do), I jumped at the chance. Most of the time, we took two trucks to market and then there were times we took three. I can still feel the wheel of that truck as we turned the corner at 231 and the viaduct. The truck was loaded to the top and when I turned that corner, the load would shift slightly. My stomach would jump from fear it would tip over on its side. I'm thankful to say that didn't happen and neither did I have any accidents.

I cannot put a value on the confidence that Fred built in me by asking me to drive his harvest to work. I was a girl and he thought I could do something that until that point only he and boys had done.

Remembering that experience reminds me that as I am now older, I can instill confidence in young people by giving them responsibility they haven't been asked to do before. The place I have that opportunity is in church. I must remember to ask the younger when I need someone to particpate in a service or project. Especially the young need the older to put their trust and confidence in their ability to carry out major responsiblities. I suppose that is what God had in mind when he instructed the older women to teach the younger women. Help me, God, to do for others what Fred did for me.