CHASING RABBITS
Today it feels like your author has been chasing rabbits for 85 plus years. As a perfectionist, those chased rabbits have been the things that were perceived to make Dad happy. As a child growing up in Sherwood, a town of 500 folks in Northwestern Ohio, the daily schedules were simple and involved working at the family-owned hardware store, school, church, and family. Some of the tasks in the store were sweeping the floor, waiting on customers, cleaning the displayed weapons, taking inventory, unpacking and shelving merchandise, going to the June Christmas toy show in Toledo, setting up the electric train front window display at Christmas, unpacking the Christmas toys and selling Christmas trees. A big deal were dollars for A’s in school. At grade card time it was always great to show Dad the grade card and collect a few bucks for the A’s. Then it was off to the bank across the street to see either Jack Hall or Hervy King to deposit the cash in a savings account. Learning Latin prayers with Mom was fun and starting to serve Mass at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church every Sunday was a real treat. Lots of altar boy friends and being an altar boy for Father Maumeister were events looked forward to every Sunday. Easter week was extra busy with Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday services. Thanksgiving was always family time with Mom, Dad, brother Dan, Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Wendell and Aunt Shirley and their kids, Lee and Kim. Hot rod racing was a blast during the summer months with Aunt Alvina, Uncle Ray and their kids, Bud, Joe, Katy and Mary Lou.
As Dr. Claude M. Steiner offers,
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived two very happy people called Tim and Maggie with two children called John and Lucy. To understand how happy they were, you have to understand how things were in those days. You see, in those happy days everyone was given at birth a small, soft, Fuzzy Bag. Anytime a person reached into this bag he(/she) was able to pull out a Warm Fuzzy. Warm Fuzzies were very much in demand because whenever somebody was given a Warm Fuzzy it made him(/her) feel warm and fuzzy all over. People who didn’t get Warm Fuzzies regularly were in danger of developing a sickness in their back which caused them to shrivel up and die.
In those days it was very easy to get Warm Fuzzies. Anytime that somebody felt like it, he(/she) might walk up to you and say, “I’d like to have a Warm Fuzzy.” You would then reach into your bag and pull out a Warm Fuzzy the size of a little girl’s hand. As soon as the Fuzzy saw the light of day it would smile and blossom into a large, shaggy Warm Fuzzy. You then would lay it on the person’s shoulder, head or lap and it would snuggle up and melt right against their skin and make them feel good all over. People were always asking each other for Warm Fuzzies, and since they were always given freely, getting enough of them was never a problem. There were always plenty to go around and as a consequence, everyone was happy and felt warm and fuzzy most of the time.
The author’s Warm Fuzzies…the rabbits…came from Dad. His recognition always felt so warm and fuzzy, and the search for similar recognition has continued, and chasing rabbits continues, searching for the “things” that would make Dad happy. Lots of degrees, great military and civilian careers, family, published author, health, wellness and wellbeing, and the list of distractions goes on and on. Only recently, with coaching, reading, learning, and facing hard, difficult truths, has awareness begun to offer that Little John and John needed to learn to love Little John and John as well as please Dad, Mom and others. Lots of work to do!
