More Angels Helping

Okay, I have the best story to tell you all tonight. This added to my faith that there are exceptionally wonderful people out there in the world. I knew there already were – Ellen and Sonny invited me and my three small children to live with them so we could start a better life for ourselves; Tracy did what she could do to help me find resources to get moved; the great staff at CAPA gave me a gift card to help with the move; and now this. I have to backtrack a little bit though.

It actually happened last Sunday but I couldn’t write about it until I could actually post a picture and I’ll have to see if I can even do that. I don’t know how but I’ll figure it out, I’m sure. Anyway, last Saturday I saw that Paul (you all know of my ex-husband) had posted on his Facebook page that he’d finally gotten the kids to bed; it was after midnight. So I called them Sunday morning to say hello and Dolly and Zach were both hysterical crying that they wanted to come home. I spoke with Paul about it and we got into a pseudo-argument, I guess you would call it. He was yelling at me although I was calm with him. All I wanted to know was why two of our kids were hysterical and wanting to come home; he just kept repeating that he would bring them home the next morning. I won’t go into the details of the argument here; just suffice it to say that, as soon as he called me an asshole, “Love and Logic” came into play and I was done with the conversation.

Now, since we didn’t know if the kids would be coming home the next day or not we were in a rush to get the boys some bunk beds. We’d been looking for a while, you might remember from last night’s post. In any case, Ellen had found a set on Craigslist that looked nice, but we couldn’t really tell since they weren’t assembled. The set was only $50, though, and I was thinking it was better than nothing since it also came with the mattresses. You can’t beat that deal, right? So Ellen responded to the ad to see if the set was still available; it had been posted a few days earlier and surely a bargain like that would be gone already. Well, it wasn’t so she emailed again for an address.

A while later, Sonny and I were watching TV, or he was playing a video game, or something, when Ellen asked us if we were ready to go get the beds. The people had emailed their address and that the beds had to be out that day. Since we were expected some place for dinner later in the evening, we stopped at the ATM and then we hauled ass to get to VA to get these beds without the sellers even letting us know if it was a good time for us to arrive there. Ellen emailed them her cell number and requested that they call us if it was a bad time since we were already on the way. Did I confuse you? Sorry if I did, it wasn’t intentional.

So we arrive at the sellers’ house and a gentleman greets us at the door. The bunk beds were in his living room, disassembled. Can I tell you, it was/is a beautiful set. He built it by hand and had the parts labeled so it would be easy for us to assemble it once we got it home. I couldn’t believe he was selling this wonderfully crafted set of beds for only $50; but I was happy he was. We really needed them. So I paid him the money and he helped us load the beds into Ellen’s pick-up. As he was walking out with Sonny I heard him asking whose kids would be using the beds and Sonny was telling him that I had three kids; then I chimed in that my two boys would be using it. The seller thought that was great. Then he was asking Ellen about where we’d come from and I wasn’t really paying attention, just figured he was a nice man who was making small talk. We all do it, right?

Here comes the wonderful part? Are you sitting down? He turned to me one more time and asked if my kids would be using the beds. I told him they would and he reached into his pocket to pull out what I thought were photos of his boys who’d used the beds for years. Nope, it was money. Great, he’s giving me $10 off since I’m in a bind and really need the beds. I asked him what it was and he responded, “It’s the $50.” Then he told us that he’d had many people respond to the ad about the bunk beds wondering if they could flip a $50 purchase for a higher price, and so on. The sellers didn’t want that. They wanted them to be used by a family who would appreciate them. Then he asked me to pay his good deed forward the next time I get the chance. Did you miss the wonderful part? I’ll repeat it. This gentleman gave us these beautiful bunk beds for FREE and all he asked in return was that I do something good for someone else in need!!

Since I was still in a bit of shock, we continued loading the beds onto the truck and once they were in and strapped down we said our goodbyes to the seller. Can I tell you that I wanted to give him a huge hug rather than just shaking his hand but I thought he’d find me insane if I did? So he went into his house and I got in the truck and cried. (I’m tearing up now as I write this; I can’t help it.) I just could not believe someone could be so completely generous. Ellen hugged me and said that there was a reason this bed set was still available when we needed it. I have to agree that mystical and Universal forces were working that day. Right Sonny!?

Either Monday or Tuesday Sonny, Ellen and I put the beds together and I put blue sheets and the boys’ WWE blankets on them. They are way cool. So that’s what you see in the picture; a beautiful set of bunk beds that will be enjoyed by my boys for a long time to come. I emailed them a picture so they could see what to expect when they get home. In answer to your question, Paul spoke with the kids on Monday and they decided to stay for the rest of their visit rather than come home early. Who knows, they may be home tomorrow. I’ll let you know what they think of the beds when they get here.


As for the sellers, there are absolutely no words that can express my appreciation to these people. Just saying “Thank you” seems too insignificant. I’m going to email them the link to this blog so they can see it for themselves but even that seems too small. Unfortunately, right now, that’s all I can do, even though I wish I could do more. I do know that I will absolutely, and without doubt, pay it forward as soon as I can. That’s my promise to the wonderful bed people who were there for me. My undying gratitude goes out to you for your boundless generosity. Thank you so very much.

Until next time…peace to all.