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Beth C
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Hope and Healing ~ Hands of Friendship
~By Beth C
Summary: I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from everyone in response to the first story, and I thank each and every one of you for your words. Life is not ever as bad as it seems at any one time, and I know now that most of you share my sentiments that life can give you a kick when you are feeling down the most. This sequel is my way of saying that yes, things are bad, but they do get better. (Doing laundry will never be the same to me again) So thanks again, guys, for all your support. I know now that I have friends to talk to if I need to.
Rating: G – for good, as things can be good too.
Feedback – Well, of course! Trekie386@aol.com for those that want to puff up my over inflated ego.
Disclaimer: (Yeah I forgot this in the first one.. oh well) All things Muppet belong to Henson, or Disney or whoever. Not mine, but I sure wish Kermit was!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ever have that feeling that once things get bad, they can’t possibly get any worse? Well, I was feeling that way, for weeks on end, until a talk with a special friend turned my world around.
Really. Just one little talk, and I felt ready to conquer the world. Well, maybe not the world, but certainly my problems. I was ready to face them head on and leave them behind.
So I was really surprised to find that same friend I had spoken to earlier, a few days later, again wanting to speak to me.
Seriously.
I’m not usually by myself on weekends, I have 3 kids after all and one of them is a very moody female teenager. One is a boy, just under his teen years and the last is my very clingy little girl. I usually end up spending time with them, (read between the lines here – keeping them from fighting amongst themselves) shopping, doing laundry, or other things I can’t do during the week. Single parenting is never fun.
This weekend, I actually got some time alone. The teen was over her Dad’s, the boy over his friends, and the girl was over Grandma’s house. I bagged up all the laundry (yeah, BAGGED is right- only time I can do it is weekends) and headed over to our local laundry mat for a good day of clothes washing.
After unloading the car, and getting it all sorted out, and in machines I sat down to wait the twenty minutes it takes to wash and rinse. It usually is slow on Sunday mornings, and this one was no exception. I had the place to myself for a good few hours.
I had brought a book to read, and was perusing the pages, not really getting into the story when I heard a voice call my name.
“Beth?”
“Hmm?” I half answered as I lowered the book, wondering who knew I was there, besides my family; who would not bother me at this ungodly hour of 9am. I was only half surprised to see my green froggy friend sitting on one of the folding tables, smiling at me. “Kermit?”
“That book any good?” He asked me while pointing at the sappy romance novel I now had sitting on my knee.
“Nah,” I replied, tossing the book next to my purse. “Same old story, boy meets girl, girl tricks boy, boy leaves girl, girl finds another boy type of story.” I stand up and walk over to the table. “What are you doing here?” I glance out the door to see if anyone is in the area. I swear he chooses the strangest places to meet with me, and I’m pretty sure he picks when I’m alone so he doesn’t have to explain his presence to anyone! Either that or I’m pretty good at making imaginary characters come to life just for me.
Of course there is no one else around, or even in the remote area, well a few cars passing by the street but no one can see inside. He sees me looking out the window and chuckles quietly. “Are you expecting someone else?”
“No,” I say, and turn back to him. “Why are you here?”
He reaches out a hand to take mine in his own. “I was worried about you, Beth. When I left you last, you were crying and miserable.” He strokes my fingers gently. “I wanted to check on you to see how you are now.”
I smile at him, this time it comes very easily. “I’m fine, doing much better.” I inform him as I watch him carefully. “I’ve worked out a few of those problems, and gotten my life back on track. Talking to you really did help.”
His gentle grin makes me feel good inside. “I’m glad, Beth, that I was able to help. You seemed really down.”
“I was.” I start to say more to him, but the first washer buzzes that it is finished. “Aww, heck, always when I’m doing something else.” I look from Kermit to where the clothes are now sitting. “If I turn away, are you going to disappear on me again?”
He shakes his head. “Nah,” then he hops easily down to the floor. “Do you want some help?”
“Sure!” I wheel one of the laundry carts over and open the washer. He helps me load the cart up and hangs on to the side of it as I wheel it over to the dryer. We soon have a game going of ‘fling the clothes inside’ and in no time the basket is empty. I can’t help but laugh at the sight of him throwing my jeans and tops and grimacing as he picks up a pair of my panties.
I blush and take those from him and toss them inside myself. “Sorry.”
“S’okay.” He says with a grin. “I’ve never had to wear those…”
“Be glad.” I tell him. “Doing all this laundry every week is no fun.” The next washer stops and we again repeat the game, this time with my kids clothes and then again with the blankets and towels.
It isn’t long before we have all the washers empty and the dryers are humming away. I’m quite giddy now, for having someone help, especially when it was one very funny frog, really made the chore not so much of a chore.
I plop back in my seat, the smile still upon my face. He sits beside me, half out of breath from our game. “This is quite fun, I don’t see why you would dislike such a chore.”
“Well, it’s no fun when you are trying to keep three kids from fighting, climbing in the dryers, behind the washers, pouting that this is boring and whining that they are hungry, never mind that I just fed them before we show up.” I grimace then grin again to show him that I’m not in the least bit upset today. “It’s quite a handful.”
“You do very well at it too,” Kermit says.
I shrug. “Well someone’s gotta do it.”
He switches the subject easily then, his eyes never once leaving my face. “So you are all right now?”
I nod to him. “Yes, I’m hanging in there. It’s all I can do for now. Just like you, I will have my time to shine, but right now it’s my time to work for what I need.”
“It would be nice, though, to have more happy days than sad ones, right?”
“Yes,” I agree. “It would be.”
“You can make them happen.” He tells me. “All you have to do is believe that every day can be good.”
I watch my clothes tumble around and around. Sometimes my life felt like that, just all tumbled up, and out of control. Could I really turn the days around just by thinking so? “How?” I ask him, a frown on my face.
“It’s called believing in yourself, Beth.” When my frown does not vanish he continues to explain. “There are so many people in this world and many of them are having troubles much worse than yours, although to you – yours seem to be the worst.” His eyes lock with mine again. “You have to think at those worst times that even though things are bad, you do have things to be happy about.”
“I do?”
He nodds. “Yes, you have a job-“
“Which I hate.” I interrupt him.
“Yes, but it does bring in money, right?”
“Yes.” I say somewhat reluctantly. “That it does.”
He picks up where he left off. “You have a car-“
“That falls apart.” I interrupt again.
“Well, true,” he agrees as he looks at my car sitting just outside the window. “But it doesn’t leak when it rains and the brakes don’t fail and the tires aren’t flat, right?”
I take another look at my car. Well, he’s right there, the previous car I had leaked water on my feet while driving and the doors wouldn’t close all the way, and yes, the brakes did fail at least once, almost dumping me into a lake. And there was that time in my life before I had a car when I had to walk my groceries home almost a mile.
“Right,” I tell him. “This one does tend to run a bit better.”
He smirks at me, happy to have made his point. “Now about that place you live in-“
“It’s too small,” I whine, knowing that somehow he will turn that statement around on me.
“Well, that it might be, but at least you can go inside when it’s rainy or cold, or,” he looks out at the brightening day, “even a bit too hot and humid. And if you rearranged the furniture inside, you might find ways of making it seem bigger.”
I close my eyes and think about that. Hmm…If I just moved that dresser and put those toys in totes, got rid of some of the clothes I don’t need… it might just have that bit of room.
“Okay,” I sigh. “You are right there. I’m sure we can make it work until I can get something bigger.”
“Now what else in your life was wrong?” He asks with a twinkle in his eyes. “You may not have cable, but I do hear that you have the Internet, and a cell phone, both of which are considered to be luxuries by many.”
I shrug again. “I guess nothing. Except those kids of mine. They never seem to listen anymore.”
He chuckles. “Well, never having any of my own, I can’t really help you there. I can say that even when I’m dealing with Robin, that I have to be patient. He’s not going to be a little frog all his life, and one day I’m going to wish he was.”
He even had me on that point. I already missed the fact that two of my kids were growing up so fast. “Kermit, for a frog, you are very smart.”
“Why, thank you, Beth. I do try.”
“It’s me that should thank you, again. Kermit, you have given me much to think about the next time something goes wrong. I have lots of things that many people don’t and I shouldn’t complain all the time.” This time I take one hand of his and bring it to my lips to kiss it gently. I can’t believe I’m doing this, I’m kissing a frog!
I can see his cheeks redden slightly. “Aww… sheesh.”
The dryer then buzzes for my attention and I know I have now mountains of clothes to fold. Clothes that I will be happy to fold as now they are clean. “Will you be helping?” I ask my small friend.
He takes his hand back and shakes his head sadly. “No, actually I should be going. I left Miss Piggy alone so I could check on you, and well,” he shrugs, “she gets kind of jealous if I’m gone too long.”
I could imagine the situation he would have to face upon his return back to her clutches. “It’s okay, I understand. I’m going to sit here and think of how good my life really is while I fold these clothes. I’ll be fine.”
“Really?” he asks, concern evident on his face.
“Really.” I assure him with a big smile. I hold my arms open as we say goodbye. “One hug for the road?” I ask boldy, no longer shy around him.
He nods and gives me a big hug, and I sigh contentedly. “Thanks again, Kermit,” I say as I release him. “Don’t be afraid to drop in on me anytime.”
He waves and opens the door. “Oh, I won’t. I’m sure we will meet to talk again.”
I watch him walk away and then turn back to my laundry. That is one thing I’m sure of. Before I grow old and gray, I’m sure we will sit and talk again. Only this time, I’m hoping that someone else will be around just so I’m sure that I’m not imagining these meetings.
But you know something, even if I was, I’d still enjoy every second of them. I am now humming to myself as I fold the clothes, humming the ‘rainbow connection’ and smiling all the while.
Chores can be fun, did you know that?
~End
~By Beth C
Summary: I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from everyone in response to the first story, and I thank each and every one of you for your words. Life is not ever as bad as it seems at any one time, and I know now that most of you share my sentiments that life can give you a kick when you are feeling down the most. This sequel is my way of saying that yes, things are bad, but they do get better. (Doing laundry will never be the same to me again) So thanks again, guys, for all your support. I know now that I have friends to talk to if I need to.
Rating: G – for good, as things can be good too.
Feedback – Well, of course! Trekie386@aol.com for those that want to puff up my over inflated ego.
Disclaimer: (Yeah I forgot this in the first one.. oh well) All things Muppet belong to Henson, or Disney or whoever. Not mine, but I sure wish Kermit was!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ever have that feeling that once things get bad, they can’t possibly get any worse? Well, I was feeling that way, for weeks on end, until a talk with a special friend turned my world around.
Really. Just one little talk, and I felt ready to conquer the world. Well, maybe not the world, but certainly my problems. I was ready to face them head on and leave them behind.
So I was really surprised to find that same friend I had spoken to earlier, a few days later, again wanting to speak to me.
Seriously.
I’m not usually by myself on weekends, I have 3 kids after all and one of them is a very moody female teenager. One is a boy, just under his teen years and the last is my very clingy little girl. I usually end up spending time with them, (read between the lines here – keeping them from fighting amongst themselves) shopping, doing laundry, or other things I can’t do during the week. Single parenting is never fun.
This weekend, I actually got some time alone. The teen was over her Dad’s, the boy over his friends, and the girl was over Grandma’s house. I bagged up all the laundry (yeah, BAGGED is right- only time I can do it is weekends) and headed over to our local laundry mat for a good day of clothes washing.
After unloading the car, and getting it all sorted out, and in machines I sat down to wait the twenty minutes it takes to wash and rinse. It usually is slow on Sunday mornings, and this one was no exception. I had the place to myself for a good few hours.
I had brought a book to read, and was perusing the pages, not really getting into the story when I heard a voice call my name.
“Beth?”
“Hmm?” I half answered as I lowered the book, wondering who knew I was there, besides my family; who would not bother me at this ungodly hour of 9am. I was only half surprised to see my green froggy friend sitting on one of the folding tables, smiling at me. “Kermit?”
“That book any good?” He asked me while pointing at the sappy romance novel I now had sitting on my knee.
“Nah,” I replied, tossing the book next to my purse. “Same old story, boy meets girl, girl tricks boy, boy leaves girl, girl finds another boy type of story.” I stand up and walk over to the table. “What are you doing here?” I glance out the door to see if anyone is in the area. I swear he chooses the strangest places to meet with me, and I’m pretty sure he picks when I’m alone so he doesn’t have to explain his presence to anyone! Either that or I’m pretty good at making imaginary characters come to life just for me.
Of course there is no one else around, or even in the remote area, well a few cars passing by the street but no one can see inside. He sees me looking out the window and chuckles quietly. “Are you expecting someone else?”
“No,” I say, and turn back to him. “Why are you here?”
He reaches out a hand to take mine in his own. “I was worried about you, Beth. When I left you last, you were crying and miserable.” He strokes my fingers gently. “I wanted to check on you to see how you are now.”
I smile at him, this time it comes very easily. “I’m fine, doing much better.” I inform him as I watch him carefully. “I’ve worked out a few of those problems, and gotten my life back on track. Talking to you really did help.”
His gentle grin makes me feel good inside. “I’m glad, Beth, that I was able to help. You seemed really down.”
“I was.” I start to say more to him, but the first washer buzzes that it is finished. “Aww, heck, always when I’m doing something else.” I look from Kermit to where the clothes are now sitting. “If I turn away, are you going to disappear on me again?”
He shakes his head. “Nah,” then he hops easily down to the floor. “Do you want some help?”
“Sure!” I wheel one of the laundry carts over and open the washer. He helps me load the cart up and hangs on to the side of it as I wheel it over to the dryer. We soon have a game going of ‘fling the clothes inside’ and in no time the basket is empty. I can’t help but laugh at the sight of him throwing my jeans and tops and grimacing as he picks up a pair of my panties.
I blush and take those from him and toss them inside myself. “Sorry.”
“S’okay.” He says with a grin. “I’ve never had to wear those…”
“Be glad.” I tell him. “Doing all this laundry every week is no fun.” The next washer stops and we again repeat the game, this time with my kids clothes and then again with the blankets and towels.
It isn’t long before we have all the washers empty and the dryers are humming away. I’m quite giddy now, for having someone help, especially when it was one very funny frog, really made the chore not so much of a chore.
I plop back in my seat, the smile still upon my face. He sits beside me, half out of breath from our game. “This is quite fun, I don’t see why you would dislike such a chore.”
“Well, it’s no fun when you are trying to keep three kids from fighting, climbing in the dryers, behind the washers, pouting that this is boring and whining that they are hungry, never mind that I just fed them before we show up.” I grimace then grin again to show him that I’m not in the least bit upset today. “It’s quite a handful.”
“You do very well at it too,” Kermit says.
I shrug. “Well someone’s gotta do it.”
He switches the subject easily then, his eyes never once leaving my face. “So you are all right now?”
I nod to him. “Yes, I’m hanging in there. It’s all I can do for now. Just like you, I will have my time to shine, but right now it’s my time to work for what I need.”
“It would be nice, though, to have more happy days than sad ones, right?”
“Yes,” I agree. “It would be.”
“You can make them happen.” He tells me. “All you have to do is believe that every day can be good.”
I watch my clothes tumble around and around. Sometimes my life felt like that, just all tumbled up, and out of control. Could I really turn the days around just by thinking so? “How?” I ask him, a frown on my face.
“It’s called believing in yourself, Beth.” When my frown does not vanish he continues to explain. “There are so many people in this world and many of them are having troubles much worse than yours, although to you – yours seem to be the worst.” His eyes lock with mine again. “You have to think at those worst times that even though things are bad, you do have things to be happy about.”
“I do?”
He nodds. “Yes, you have a job-“
“Which I hate.” I interrupt him.
“Yes, but it does bring in money, right?”
“Yes.” I say somewhat reluctantly. “That it does.”
He picks up where he left off. “You have a car-“
“That falls apart.” I interrupt again.
“Well, true,” he agrees as he looks at my car sitting just outside the window. “But it doesn’t leak when it rains and the brakes don’t fail and the tires aren’t flat, right?”
I take another look at my car. Well, he’s right there, the previous car I had leaked water on my feet while driving and the doors wouldn’t close all the way, and yes, the brakes did fail at least once, almost dumping me into a lake. And there was that time in my life before I had a car when I had to walk my groceries home almost a mile.
“Right,” I tell him. “This one does tend to run a bit better.”
He smirks at me, happy to have made his point. “Now about that place you live in-“
“It’s too small,” I whine, knowing that somehow he will turn that statement around on me.
“Well, that it might be, but at least you can go inside when it’s rainy or cold, or,” he looks out at the brightening day, “even a bit too hot and humid. And if you rearranged the furniture inside, you might find ways of making it seem bigger.”
I close my eyes and think about that. Hmm…If I just moved that dresser and put those toys in totes, got rid of some of the clothes I don’t need… it might just have that bit of room.
“Okay,” I sigh. “You are right there. I’m sure we can make it work until I can get something bigger.”
“Now what else in your life was wrong?” He asks with a twinkle in his eyes. “You may not have cable, but I do hear that you have the Internet, and a cell phone, both of which are considered to be luxuries by many.”
I shrug again. “I guess nothing. Except those kids of mine. They never seem to listen anymore.”
He chuckles. “Well, never having any of my own, I can’t really help you there. I can say that even when I’m dealing with Robin, that I have to be patient. He’s not going to be a little frog all his life, and one day I’m going to wish he was.”
He even had me on that point. I already missed the fact that two of my kids were growing up so fast. “Kermit, for a frog, you are very smart.”
“Why, thank you, Beth. I do try.”
“It’s me that should thank you, again. Kermit, you have given me much to think about the next time something goes wrong. I have lots of things that many people don’t and I shouldn’t complain all the time.” This time I take one hand of his and bring it to my lips to kiss it gently. I can’t believe I’m doing this, I’m kissing a frog!
I can see his cheeks redden slightly. “Aww… sheesh.”
The dryer then buzzes for my attention and I know I have now mountains of clothes to fold. Clothes that I will be happy to fold as now they are clean. “Will you be helping?” I ask my small friend.
He takes his hand back and shakes his head sadly. “No, actually I should be going. I left Miss Piggy alone so I could check on you, and well,” he shrugs, “she gets kind of jealous if I’m gone too long.”
I could imagine the situation he would have to face upon his return back to her clutches. “It’s okay, I understand. I’m going to sit here and think of how good my life really is while I fold these clothes. I’ll be fine.”
“Really?” he asks, concern evident on his face.
“Really.” I assure him with a big smile. I hold my arms open as we say goodbye. “One hug for the road?” I ask boldy, no longer shy around him.
He nods and gives me a big hug, and I sigh contentedly. “Thanks again, Kermit,” I say as I release him. “Don’t be afraid to drop in on me anytime.”
He waves and opens the door. “Oh, I won’t. I’m sure we will meet to talk again.”
I watch him walk away and then turn back to my laundry. That is one thing I’m sure of. Before I grow old and gray, I’m sure we will sit and talk again. Only this time, I’m hoping that someone else will be around just so I’m sure that I’m not imagining these meetings.
But you know something, even if I was, I’d still enjoy every second of them. I am now humming to myself as I fold the clothes, humming the ‘rainbow connection’ and smiling all the while.
Chores can be fun, did you know that?
~End