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Everyday Cheapskate: Despite Everything, We Are So Blessed
Mary Hunt
I met a woman recently (I'll call her Sally) whose story makes the
challenges in my life seem like child's play.
It was 1975. Sally, a young native-born Vietnamese widow, scraped together the $20,000 required to get herself and her three babies (ages 2, 3 and 4) onto a boat that would smuggle them out of Vietnam.
In the dark of night, with only the clothes on their backs and the money jammed into their pockets, she and 124 others boarded the 17-foot craft that would be their home for the foreseeable future. That's it. No food. No water. Nothing on board but 128 precious people in search of safety and a better life.
Because of the crowded, unsanitary conditions, it was standing room only. For 12 long days and nights, Sally clung to her babies, who were sick with hunger. For those torturous 288 hours, she prayed for safety, for endurance and for courage. More than once, passengers on her boat jumped overboard, believing that death in the sea would be better than life on the boat. Each time, the pilots would circle back and pick them up, lovingly telling them to hang on for just one more hour.
They did arrive, finally, in the Philippines. They were met with open arms, food, water and shelter. Here's the miracle: Not one person on Sally's boat perished. All 128 arrived, alive.
In time, Sally and her children were granted visas to emigrate to the U.S. Once here, she figured out how to work the hours her children were in school and sleeping. Sharing housing with others in her community provided child care at night. She routinely held down three menial jobs, earning what most of us would expect from one job. Saving money was always her highest priority so that she could provide more for her children.
On her income, she put all three of her children through college, bought a home and now lives with her eldest daughter, who is married with a child of her own. Sally has seen her life come full circle.
What an inspiration Sally is to me. As one who is terrified of water anyway and has trouble with the idea of being on a cruise ship, Sally's experience sends chills up my spine. Personally, I do not think I would have survived. I'm reduced to tears knowing what she and her children endured to live in freedom, not under the tyranny of a cruel regime.
What are you facing today? Foreclosure? Unemployment? Bill collectors? Compare your situation with standing room only on a 17-foot boat with no facilities, no food and no water. Now add horrific weather and so much seasickness that you are sure no one will survive. Your life is not so bad after all.
Thank you, Sally, for sharing your life with me. I feel more blessed and grateful today than I have in a long time.
========
Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.
This news arrived on: 10/12/2009
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Posted Comments:
10-12-2009 11:31
Jane wrote:
mealy moth
I recently used your vinegar and lemon dish soap to control fruit flies and love the way it works.Now do you have a non chemical control for mealy moths?
10-10-2009 00:55
MARCELLA TAYLOR wrote:
SALLY'S JOURNEY
GOD BLESS GOD HE IS SO AWESOME, LOVING AND FORGIVING. I THANK HIM FOR SAVING SALLY AND HER FAMILY. FOR HIS PRESENSE IN MY LIFE AND FOR HIS GOODNESS AND MERCY.
10-09-2009 14:28
Fran Galvin wrote:
Sally's determination
This woman is amazing! I have only one thing to say Thank God I was born in America. I don't think I ever would have survived the trip.
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