Back in little Archer, Florida - population 500 (take that, Mayberry!) we had at one time 4 grocery stores. Each was unique in its personality and variety of merchandise. For example, there was the "Suwanee Store" which was a big ol' space that had a pleasant musty odor. They carried variety merchandise as well as food staples. I don't think they had fresh meat. If you didn't grow your own, you were better off going to "Stalvey's" for meat. There was a big and glorious meat counter where you could order 1 pound of ground round and see it ground before your very eyes. None of that mound of red stuff stuck on a styrofoam bottom and covered with plastic wrap. Or worse, the tube of stuff labeled ground hamburger and unseeable except with Superman eyes. My friends, there have been times when that tube was all we could afford, and we made do. Because, making do is what we all did.
This takes me to our "life lesson" for today - "making do". It has become very unfasionable in the past couple of decades to be a person who "makes do". Look on Amazon and see if you can find a book on that subject. Oh no, you will find many books on "achieving more", the late 20th century's pervasive mantra. "Swim with the Sharks", "Break The Glass Ceiling"...you get the message. The constant bombarding of these prods to our own sense of satisfaction or contentment have conspired to create a whole lot of unhappy people. This is my firm belief. So, my advice to each of you today is, learn to make do.
Lots of us are facing tough times these days, even if at a higher level than our ancestors may have faced in the Great Depression. We are slogging through what is euphemistically called a "recession". I knew that hairlines and gumlines recede - and those aren't good things. Now, our economy has receded and it seems as if Rogaine ain't gonna get this done. So, I am starting a campaign today for us to make do. This is not an economic stimulus plan, my friends. This is a mental health stimulus plan, and it is long overdue, at least in my case.
I look back at all the times I spent money on stuff I didn't need. Now I am having to get rid of most of it - with the hope that some of it will be of use to someone else (thanks Goodwill and Salvation Army for all you do). If you can't go cold turkey - at least think about taking a day, a week, or a month and make do. Look in the pantry and get creative about how to make a meal out of what you have. Add a scarf to that old blouse, you've got a new look. Well, I won't belabor this. But, I got to thinking about growing up in Archer, and how a lot of us had to "make do" to "get by". I know that we never missed a meal. We had clean clothes to wear, even if we did wear the same outfits over and over. We had plenty, an abundance of the things that really matter: neighbors we could call on, streets that we could walk down, even at age 6, alone and safe. These are priceless treasures and maybe they are more likely to be available to people who know how to "make do".
We made do with a square old school house, with wooden floors so clean you could see your face in them. We made do with a school library with less than 200 volumes. And, for all that we did not have, we had that much more in fun. Have you ever danced around a Maypole? Have you ever played hopscotch or jumped rope - even Double Dutch? My friend Lura helps me remember what a treasure box time we grew up in. And how we learned to love each other, unconditionally, because we always had each other.
I recently spent a few weeks back there. I attended the church where I had grown up - now it's been remodeled and added on to. But, there behind the choir loft, was the same simple and beautiful picture that my daddy's friend, Shorty Petricka had painted when the church was built. Yes, this church was built when I was a child, and I was there for laying of the cornerstone. I hear they opened it during the remodeling. I wonder what all we had put in there so many years ago. Surely some of what we put in there were our hopes and dreams. That painting is of a river, which stretches into the distance among some clouds and trees and becomes the widest right above the baptistry.
You see, I was baptized in that virtual River Jordan. And I was baptized in kindness, honesty and loyalty by the river of love and friendship which was running down the little streets of Archer when I was a little girl.
Go make do with something today. You'll be better for it.
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