There's Things that Matter and Things that Don't

Just the other day, someone came driving up to my business in a shiny blue Ford pickup and honked the horn. I had actually been kicked back in my chair with my feet propped up. Immediately I went in to "business" mode and quickly sat up straight and took my feet off the front porch post. (You gotta make a good impression for customers, right?) The only thing is, this wasn't a customer...well sort of not a customer. it was my grandfather in a new truck. He had brought it by from the dealership. They were letting him take it for a test run before he bought it. Since I'm the vehicle enthusiast that I am, I complimented it and checked it our...roof to chassis. We looked up the blue book value and I took it for a drive up the road while my grandfather sat on the porch of the business building. When I got back, we talked a little and he took it back to the dealership to finalize the deal. Why am I telling this? Well, my grandfather was excited about his new truck (I was too. It was sharp. I may borrow it)...so much so that my grandmother decided to post on Facebook about his excitement. She posted "An old southern man is happy when he has a truck and a tractor." Boy was she right! There's nothing like a man and his tractor- let alone a man and his truck. A man's truck is kinda like his buddy that doesn't talk back or nag at him. A man's truck is part of his identity. We customize them to fit our needs and personalities and take extra care to make sure they are in tip-top shape. Anyway, my grandmother was right- most men definitely are fond of their trucks. Sometimes in life though, we become too fond of material things. This brings me to my next story.

About two or three days ago, an older man whom I have known for a while came into the store. I knew who it was when he pulled in the parking lot, well, because I recognized his truck- an old two tone Ford from the 80s. He got out quickly for a man his age and walked in the door. I said "Good morning Mr. _______. How are you doing this morning?" He replied with a "I'm doing just fine. Little chilly though." He then proceeded to ask me what the prices were on my poinsettias. After I told him, he said "Okay, give me one of them. I'm gonna put it on my wife's grave." As I proceeded to get him one and wrap it up in plastic for transport, he began talking about his wife who was my bus driver my freshman year in high school before I got my license. He said, "It just doesn't seem real. I go into our room and all of her clothes and things are still in there. I can't do anything with them." Now, I didn't know what to say. I said, "Well, things won't ever be the same, but over time it will get better." That wasn't what I wanted to say, but all I could think of at the time. Really, I'm not sure time heals all wounds, especially the wound that comes with losing your spouse. He replied with something like, "I don't know." I then said, "Well, Mr. _______ Mrs. _______ was the best bus driver I ever had." He smiled a little and said, "Yeah she was pretty good." This husband and wife pair had both been driving school buses for years together. You know a husband will often times go out and crank his wife's car on cold mornings before she heads to work so that she doesn't have to get cold. This man, would crank his wife's bus, along with his own, and make sure not only he was warm but his wife and all of the kids that had the privilege of riding their buses. It was obvious that he missed his wife and I thought to myself that very moment that sometimes we just forget how blessed we are to have certain people in our lives.

Today, as I was loading some turnip greens on my truck, I did something that I don't normally do. I grabbed my phone and pulled it out and hit the play button on my music playlist. As I sang along to Chris Young's "Lost," Jason Aldean's "Fly Over States," and George Straight's "Give it All We Got Tonight" I was enjoying the music and hoping nobody showed up and heard my horrible renditions. Then, a song came by Craig Morgan came on called " This Ain't Nothin' " The words are:

He was standin' in the rubble
Of an old farmhouse outside Birmingham
When some on-the-scene reporter
Stuck a camera in the face of that old man

He said, "Tell the folks, please mister, what are you gonna do
Now that this twister has taken all that's dear to you"
The old man just smiled and said, "Boy, let me tell you somethin'
This ain't nothin'"

He said, "I lost my daddy when I was eight years old
That cave-in at the Kincaid Mine left a big ol' hole
And I lost my baby brother, my best friend, and my left hand
In a no-win situation in a place called Vietnam"

"And last year, I watched my lovin' wife
Of fifty years waste away and die
And I held her hand 'til her heart of gold stopped pumpin'
So, this ain't nothin'"

He said, "I learned at an early age
There's things that matter, and there's things that don't
So if you're waitin' here for me to cry
I hate to disappoint you boy, but I won't"

Then he reached down in the rubble and picked up a photograph
Wiped the dirt off of it with the hand that he still had
He put it to his lips and he said, "Man she was somethin'
But, this ain't nothin'"

He said, "I lost my daddy when I was eight years old
That cave-in at the Kincaid Mine left a big ol' hole
And I lost my baby brother, my best friend, and my left hand
In a no-win situation in a place called Vietnam"

"And last year, I watched my lovin' wife
Of fifty years waste away and die
We were holdin' hands when her heart of gold stopped pumpin'
So, this ain't nothin'"

He said, "This ain't nothin' time won't erase
And this ain't nothin' money can't replace"

He said, "You sit and watch your lovin' wife
Of fifty years fightin' for her life
Then you hold her hand 'til her heart of gold stops pumpin'
Yeah, boy that's somethin'"

"So, this ain't nothin'
No, this ain't nothin'"

Songwriters
Chris Du Bois;Kerry Kurt Phillips

Published by
SEA GAYLE MUSIC

The song really struck a chord with me and the gentleman that had just been there at my business only a few days before, especially the words "And last year, I watched my lovin' wife of fifty years waste away and die
and I held her hand 'til her heart of gold stopped pumpin'" They describe that man. The only difference is, he was in the hospital when his wife died and didn't get that chance to hold her hand. Although he probably would have and in some way he still does today in more of a spiritual way. So, if I haven't learned anything this week, I have learned more about the true "measure" of a real man. A real man values those close to him He appreciates them and does all he can for them. Yes, my grandfather was happy about his new truck, but make no mistake that truck comes dead last when it comes to his family. That's the way I've come to feel too and the way I know the gentleman who lost his wife feels. So, I say material things "ain't nothin' " but those you love are "somethin' " That, my friends, is just a few thoughts from a small town southern man.

Here's a link to Craig Morgan's "This Ain't Nothin'":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSdItuvBxc8