“Where ever you go, blessings will follow.” - Martin Sensmeier

Unanticipated

“You know my father, don’t you?”

Randy Salt was speaking of his father, Richard.

“He died this year. He was 96 years old,” Randy continued.

Richard was an avid sportsman. He played on his school’s football, basketball, track and field teams in his youth. He also was a prize amateur boxer and had a chance to turn professional, but decided instead to focus on his growing family. His commitment to those he loved most was something he learned from his own father and mother.

“My grandfather worked for the railroad,” Randy continued. “When he was in his mid-thirties he was crushed by a train coupling. No one expected him to live.”

He did live. He endured multiple surgeries and relied on his wife to care for him for the rest of his life.

“My grandmother spent her entire life caring for my grandfather. And, there was never any question whether she would do it or not.”

When it became clear that he would live, no one thought he would ever be able to walk again. But, he did! One step at a time. He started by simply standing. Then he graduated to a walker. Finally, he was able to walk with the aid of a cane after many years of struggle.

“I never really understood the depth of my grandmother’s commitment to my beloved grandfather, until my brother Bob and I made the decision to care for our own father during his last years,” Randy explained.

Because the two men had watched the care given by their grandmother, they were able to see how she grew and changed over many years. But, there is nothing like personal experience.

“I never would have guessed what growth would come to me from caring for my father,” Randy said with emotion as soft as a light breeze kissing the top of a seemingly eternal, giant sequoia tree.

The two men became so close that when the time came where Richard could no longer speak to Randy through voice, they could still fully communicate.

“We would sit together,” Randy said quietly. “I could feel what he was feeling, what he wanted and needed. I couldn’t hear his audible voice, but we knew each other in a way I never could have imagined possible.”

Martin Sensmeier, an actor, when playing a uniquely meaningful role, once said, “Where ever you go, blessings will follow.”

Blessings will always follow difficulties. Every time. But, the blessings are almost always unanticipated. They’re unanticipated because they only show up during the experience. They come from the unwanted, something not sought.

“You know my father, don’t you?” Randy had asked.

Randy Salt was speaking of his father, Richard. But, he was really telling you and me of the unanticipated. Because, we all, every one of us, will enjoy unanticipated blessings as the result of unwanted experience.

Watch as I host American Dream TV which will begin streaming on Apple TV and Roku in August 2023