Legacy

Hello from OKC!

It's tough to blog without a full keyboard, but I had the overwhelming need to get my thoughts out on "paper"...so here goes.

Today was our first full day of work.  The group was split into 5 teams and I was put in charge of one team.  I chose the work I knew I could handle, Sheetrock, which is hysterical in one sense because I have struggled nightly with Sheetrock over the life of these trips. Many a swear word has been uttered.

Anyhow, my team was at Eddie's house finishing up one missing, taping, sanding and patching.  Let me just say, it was a struggle. The students were excellent. They were helpful, eager, excite and ready...and none of them knew a thing about what we were doing.
About halfway through the day, after teaching mudding techniques, "scrape off the excess into the tray like this to get a clean line", showing how to fill holes and sand down excess, I faced the holes in the ceiling. I knew enough to fake it...and asked for help when I didn't but mostly I stood back, gave instruction and let the students go for it.  It was a challenging day. At the end of the day, as we put one last piece of drywall in, the heard myself say to the young woman who was struggling with the screw,"Keep going,but will suck in," and I knew that I had one person to thank for the knowledge I had used all day long...it was the same man whose words had just flown from my lips...my friend Ben.  Those 10 trips to Mississippi where Ben taught, encouraged, led, forced me to try and instilled his knowledge in my soul had just come to fruition.  Today I passed on Ben's legacy to 2 young men and 2 young women...and it was good.