A One Can Conquer

“He drove all the way to the beach in Northern California on nothing but one can of root beer.”

Chuck

A One Can Conquer

I hadn’t seen my friend Chuck and his wife for almost one full year.  And it would have been even longer had his son-in-law not asked me to give him a call.  So it was with such a warm invitation that I made an appointment to come to his home and visit with him.

As I drove up to the front of the house I was greeted by blooming flowers and a perfectly manicured green lawn.  It made for a generous welcome that continued when I entered the two story building Chuck and his wife call home.  It was clean, not over stuffed, and comfortably appointed where we three sat at a small round table to talk.

“It’s good to see you again,” I said.  “Tell me what’s happened since last summer.”

The two hosts took a quick glance at each other almost as if to say, “Oh my, where do we start!”  I could see that things had indeed changed for them so I sat quietly and waited.

“My 54 year old brother-in-law moved in not long after his mother died.” Chuck volunteered.  We knew he was a little socially backward, but we had no idea that he was mentally handicapped!”  They, Chuck and his wife, went on to tell me their harrowing tale of discovering what his mother had hidden from the family during his entire life time.

There is a lot to tell.  But, one thing in particular held me transfixed in its telling.  Their guest had said for days that he was going to run away from his home because he just couldn’t take it any longer.  They listened, but failed to understand that he was really going to do it.  Then, they got a call from his boss asking if they knew where he was.  He hadn’t shown up for work that evening.

Chuck dropped everything and drove the forty-five minutes to his brother-in-law’s home to make sure he was alright.  When he arrived he found the house empty and the car missing.  He and his wife were panicked and had no idea where to even begin to look for him.  They got on their phones and began to call everyone they could think of and when they got no promising result they resorted to calling the police.

Then the next morning they got a call from him.

“Where are you?” Chuck queried.

“I’m in Northern California and I’m calling to tell you I’m going to live on the beach!” He replied.

“How are you going to do that?  You don’t have any money!” Chuck responded.

The conversation went on until he told Chuck he was hungry and asked him to come and pick him up.

“He drove all night on nothing but a can of root beer!  That was all he needed to run away from his problems.  But, when he knew he had to face his problems he needed much more.” Chuck told me.

In the end, Chuck and his wife went to the rescue and they each ended up driving the two cars home to Utah.

After we talked, my mind went on a road trip of its own.  I thought of all the times I had not faced the challenges in my own life so well and I could see that in all such cases the freedom of running away was so enticing that it had taken nothing but, “a can of root beer” to carry me a long ways away.  I also recognized that when facing down a task I don’t want to face, it often takes a whole case of root beer and a few hamburgers to get me past my fear to completing the task.

I say I need those things to get me past my fear because, in my experience, the fear always dwarfs the task.  In fact, earlier in the week, it took me a full day, breakfast, lunch and on to dinner before I had the courage to make one call I didn’t want to make.  When I finally made the call it took me two minutes and it had a very positive outcome!

When I finished that call, I said to myself, “What was all the fuss about!  Had you completed this same call hours earlier you would have enjoyed the same outcome and the rest of the day as well!”  So, yes, I still run in fear quite often.

I’m sure I’ll continue to run in fear, from time to time, for the rest of my life.  But because of my friend Chuck I’m going to crack a can of root beer and face my fear early on so I can enjoy the successful outcome much more quickly.  A, well, perhaps after just one more can!