1.25.2013

DDD: DAY EIGHTEEN - abundant table.

This is a story about hard work, service, love & compassion. Its a story about Mr LKP.

Is everyone comfortable? Good.

On a wintery day, much like today, Mr LKP worked. He worked hard all day long at his construction company, helping to see projects through, and to make certain his crew was giving it their all. This sometimes is no easy task, however he realizes there's a reason what he does is called work & it's the same reason he's paid to do it.

By the end of this particular day, he was not only tired from his job, but he was exhausted from battling the flu the week before + the late nights of filling in for his wife and her normal extracurricular activities supporting their daughter, since his wife was bed-ridden with the flu this go-round.

All of this was in addition to tending to his wife's symptoms each night, as well as to his normal chores of feeding the outdoor critters, herding chickens into their appropriate runs, gathering & splitting firewood. And of course maintaining a solid fire all night so as to keep the power company from just helping themselves to his wallet.

Needless to say, he had a lot on his shoulders.

As he was locking up the shop and heading out the yard's gate, he received a text from his wife. Upon reading it, his shoulders dropped a little, he took a deep breath and then hopped in his truck, headed to the grocery store.

Juggling a cart full of items, his list, a fistful of weekly coupons, and phone calls back & forth to the wife, his patience wore thin. By then it was safer to shift into auto-pilot the rest of the way through the check-out lane, out to the truck & on to the final destination: home.

Once home, he realized his wife had spent her entire day in bed in pain. So, the groceries were lugged in for the teenager to put away. Mr LKP then went about the outdoor chores of feeding & breaking up ice in troughs. Firewood was gathered to the deck, figuring he'd split it a little later. Then inside he went about feeding the dogs & cats.

He sat down long enough only to remove his boots. Then Mr LKP selflessly tackled the daunting request his wife made for dinner: macaroni & cheese.

We're not talking cheese powder out of the blue box here either, dear readers, no siree Bob. The request was for honest-to-goodness, homemade mac & cheese with a crusty melted cheese top, compliments of Pioneer Woman's favorite family recipe (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/).

There would not be a breezy 20 minute wait until the dinner bell would ring this time. No, he would have to sacrifice more like 55 excruciating minutes before supper would come out of the oven with the cheese.just.right.

Despite it all, not a single complaint escaped his lips.

The last 25 minutes of oven time, he finally snagged a spot on the couch and watched his daughter play a video game. When the buzzer sounded, bowls were dished-up, and one was brought to his sick wife.

Even though there was more mustard taste to the entree than he preferred (since he'd always been a blue box kid himself), he was glad to see the comfort it brought his wife. (And did it ever?! Like a cheesy down comforter for my tummy, ladies & gents!)

His kind service & hard work on his family's behalf had once again been overpaid.

From there our hero, wandered back to eat his own meal & fall fast asleep watching more video games. Most likely with visions of grocery carts, ugly construction workers, Zelda, and blue boxes dancing in his head.

Beowulf? Hercules? Puh-Lease! Give us Mr LKP any day!

He's our epic hero. We sure are grateful for him & love him dearly.

The End.

1 comment:

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

That is such a sweet story of your hero!!!
The mac and cheese look divine!

I hope you are feeling better by now!

Hugs and loves.

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