In the middle of yet another busy day of appointments and trips to the pharmacy for yet another prescription, Mr. FixIt and I decided to go pay a visit to his good friend, Harry. Harry loves Atomic Fireballs. Addicted to them, really. So, every time we go to Sam’s, we get Harry a box of them. Harry doesn’t ask for much. He works hard. He lives a simple life. And…he’s a widower.

Harry lost Myrna a little over a year ago after a long struggle with cancer. She was his everything and we were worried for him. Mr. FixIt and Harry worked together for many years and they just bonded. They’ve bowled on the same team for decades. After being with me for the last three years, my sweetheart has a pretty good understanding of what it means to have your spouse die. I have to say…he touches my heart every time he reaches for those candies that Harry loves. Or, when he picks up the phone and says, as he is looking up the number, “I’d better check in on Harry and see how he’s doing.”

When we arrived, Harry came out with three lawn chairs and guided us to a cool shady spot alongside the modest house he shares with his son and two dogs. We caught up with each other’s latest news. He just got back from a visit with his young grandchildren…twins that Myrna was crazy over. The two men discussed the woes of broken down machinery when they compared lawn tractor sagas. Then Harry lit up. 

“You wanna come see the garden?”

We walked around the corner of the house and there was this beautiful garden spread out before us. It was enough to make me catch my breath. Row after row of onions, lettuce, carrots, beets, beans, corn, tomatoes, and pumpkins…all neatly tended in a soft, sandy soil. Nothing like the dense, wet clay we have to deal with. Harry doesn’t live all that far from the Ohio River. His garden was once part of the riverbed.

He grabbed a couple grocery bags and stuffed them with onions and lettuce. I’ll make a wilted lettuce salad this evening. For those of you unfamiliar with the glories of wilted lettuce…you start with lots of well washed leaf lettuce, add some sliced green onions and set aside. Fry up some bacon. Crumble the bacon on top of the salad. When the bacon grease cools enough that it won’t spatter, add a little sugar, salt and pepper stirring well till the sugar dissolves then add a good splash of apple cider vinegar. Heat it up and stir to get all the crispy bacon bits off the pan, then pour over the salad and toss well. Eat it right away so that it’s wilted, but not soggy. Ohhhhh, heavenly days! This was the only “salad” I knew growing up and it brings happy memories every time I eat it.

We finally had to say our goodbyes and thanked Harry profusely for the fresh produce. As we drove home, I reached over and held my sweet husband’s hand. He is a good man with a kind heart and I am so proud of the kind of friend he is. He warms my heart.

❤️

“not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Philippians 2:4 NIV