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For cryin' out loud


purplekow
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I bought a new car today and had a friend drop me off at the dealership so I could drive it home. When I got the keys I was happy and I enjoyed the short ride home. While driving home, I could not help but think back to the purchase of another new car.

 

When my father was about 75 years he ordered his first new car. The oldest child of immigrants, my father became the man of the house when his father died in the influenza epidemic of 1917-18, leaving 6 children from his 6 year marriage to my grandmother. (He had 5 other children in 5 years of marriage to his first wife, who died in childbirth. Those children were left in Europe awaiting the call that never came to rejoin their father in the US.) My father was a barber and eventually came to own his own shop. But with family responsibilities what they were and those "damned Beatles" leading us all to cut hair less routinely, money was always an issue.

 

The day the call came that his new car had arrived, nothing seemed very different. I drove my father to the dealership to sign a few papers and to pick up the car. I was impatient, pacing awaiting the completion of the paperwork. When the dealer finally said "That's the last one and here are the keys to your new car (an 1984 Oldsmobile), my father suddenly and unexpectedly and for the first time that I ever witnessed, started to cry loudly and unabashedly. He cried inconsolably for about 10 minutes, oblivious to

the attention of everyone in the dealership and then, he got to his feet and walked out without a word. He got in the car and drove it home. When we got home, my mother asked how it felt to have a new car and he said "Good" and nothing else.

 

I have never experienced that kind of unexpected joyous emotional outpouring. This raises two questions I would like to offer for discussion. First, what is it that has brought you to uncontrollable tears of joy? Second, can those of us who have benefitted from the quiet sacrifice of parents, ever fully appreciate the magnitude of that gift?

 

I understand that this has nothing to do with escorts or escorting, but since many of the posters here probably live lives significantly more affluent than that of their parents, I thought some here might have and interesting take on this.

 

I have never seen a purplekow;

I never hope to see one;

I can tell you anyhow;

I'd rather see than be one

 

Help there is a purplekow in my mirror

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WOW!!!! thats a great story.

thats something you can hold dear to your heart as a big gift.

if you understood that at the moment he got the car that is even more intense.

my parents raised 7 of us we never wanted for much they had good jobs busy lives and no time for us as individuals

I resented that and created a lot of trouble when i was a kid.

when I finally realized what an ungrateful jerk i was i felt so badly and picked up the phone in tears and called my mother and father I told them how sorry i was for being so much trouble for them and that i had no idea how hard they worked to do what they did for all of us and that my life is a total gift because of them.

we had a good laugh and a wonderful moment over the phone

they did not have a clue about what i was saying it was strange.

we are not that close and thats cool too i am just so glad they know i appreciate what they did and now do for there grandkids.

David

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I think it's nice that you tried to create a thread along some different lines, but by not adding your own moments of joy, you leave the rest of us a little hanging. I think that the more a person who has suffered, the more he is able to cry tears of joy.

 

Your last question rather slights those who have worked hard and came from nothing to accomplish a life his parents would never have dreamed of. But, oftentimes, it was the selflessness and discipline of the parents that made the child accomplish what he did. My parents lived in a different world than I did. It wasn't their suffering that made my accomplishments, but it created the opportunity. You could not have had one without the other.

Nice thread though.

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>I think it's nice that you tried to create a thread along

>some different lines, but by not adding your own moments of

>joy, you leave the rest of us a little hanging. I think that

>the more a person who has suffered, the more he is able to cry

>tears of joy.

 

I mentioned that I had never had that kind of moment and it was yesterday when I got the car that it really struck home and lead to my posting her.

>

>Your last question rather slights those who have worked hard

>and came from nothing to accomplish a life his parents would

>never have dreamed of. But, oftentimes, it was the

>selflessness and discipline of the parents that made the child

>accomplish what he did. My parents lived in a different world

>than I did. It wasn't their suffering that made my

>accomplishments, but it created the opportunity. You could not

>have had one without the other.

 

As a second generation member, the immigrants came and barely got by and then the first generation clawed to reach middle class status allowing we members of the second generation the opportunity to stay in school and make a better life. My main point is that their greatest successes (owning a home, a new car, living in a safe environment) are routine for many of us. Many of us live comfortable lives and take that as a given while our parents realized the magnitude of that kind of success.

 

 

>Nice thread though.

 

Thanks and certainly I hold nothing but admiration for those born to less privledged circumstances who have advanced themselves. In fact, this thread documents my envy of their deserved sense of accomplishment. In my case, I feel as though my ancestors and I have run a relay race and that they built such a big lead for me that I was able to enjoy the fruits of victory with much less an effort.

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> First, what is it that has brought you to uncontrollable tears of joy?

 

Wow, what a thought-provoking question!

 

I can remember two times in my life (both related) when I had uncontrollable tears of joy. The first was in 1995 when my mother died and the other was in 1999 when my father died.

 

I know it sounds horrible to have tears of joy at the death of loved ones. But, both parents had different forms of cancer and the last months of their lives were often fill with horrible pain and poor quality of life. They were both ready for death and, for me, it was a relief and joy when their suffering was over.

 

Years later I still miss them and it's tough being an adult "orphan". But the greatest joy I've ever experienced was to witness an end to their pain and suffering.

 

> Second, can those of us who have benefited from the quiet sacrifice of parents, ever fully appreciate the magnitude of that gift?

 

When cleaning out my parents home after their death, my sister and I ran across a financial ledger that my mother kept. It was a simple balance sheet that she filled out each month (for several years) showing their income and spending.

 

I looked over the entries when I was about 12 years old. My mother was a full-time homemaker and my father's net income was $500 per month. Below the entry for each monthly paycheck were the bills and Mom made sure to note they were listed in order of importance. The first monthly payment was $50 for the church, next was $98 for the house payment, and third was $50 for music lessons for myself and my sister.

 

I never knew how much my parents sacrificed for our music lessons. It was a significant portion of their monthly income and I was amazed to see how closely my parents monitored their spending to ensure there was enough money for our lessons.

 

Looking back, I now understand that special look in my parents eyes when one of their kids would perform in a concert or just for our own enjoyment.

 

My sister and I also found copies of every program or performance we did. Written in the margins of the program were my parents short notes on what they enjoyed about the performance.

 

What a wonderful legacy!

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Awesome sharing. Thank you.

 

 

>emotional outpouring. This raises two questions I would like

>to offer for discussion. First, what is it that has brought

>you to uncontrollable tears of joy? Second, can those of us

 

I have cried a great deal in my life. I don't think I ever cried pure tears of joy. I do believe I have cried tears of joy mixed with tears of relief or some other emotion. I do believe I have never had pure tears of joy.

 

 

>who have benefitted from the quiet sacrifice of parents, ever

>fully appreciate the magnitude of that gift?

 

Yes, I do believe we can fully appreciate that magnitude. However, I feel the appreciation may come too late. It took the death of one parent to see the whole picture of what both parents truly did for me.

 

The topics you chose to post about reminded me of the following:

 

TIME

To realize the value of one year:

Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

 

To realize the value of one month:

Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

 

To realize the value of one week:

Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

 

To realize the value of one hour:

Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

 

To realize the value of one minute:

Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

 

To realize the value of one second:

Ask a person who has survived an accident.

 

To realize the value of one millisecond:

Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

 

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when you can share it with

someone special.

 

(author unknown .. I take no credit)

 

VDN

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Guest zipperzone

>I mentioned that I had never had that kind of moment and it

>was yesterday when I got the car that it really struck home

>and lead to my posting her.

 

Not to take away from the thoughts behind your original post - but, to satisfy my curiosity, PK, what kind of car did you get?

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Guest novabear22031

I have experienced that feeling of crying for joy a couple of times... first was when I bought my old townhouse.

 

The second time was last Christmas when my sister surprised me with the large version of the "Picture Perfect" Hummell - for being in to photography and for her remembering our growing up with Hummell's around the house that our Mom collected while in Germany - she showed me just how well she knew me... :)

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>>I mentioned that I had never had that kind of moment and it

>>was yesterday when I got the car that it really struck home

>>and lead to my posting her.

>

>Not to take away from the thoughts behind your original post -

>but, to satisfy my curiosity, PK, what kind of car did you

>get?

 

Having turned in a Jaguar XK8 back to the dealership, I decided to get a Mustang Convertible for the small amount of pleasure driving I do. V8 with the GT package and some of the bells and whistles.

I only drive about 12000 miles a year and half of that is back and forth to work, a 12 mile drive a day and to the dog park, another short hop. For those trips I use my workhorse, 1996 Chevy Cavalier which still has less than 90000 miles after 12 years.

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Guest zipperzone

>Having turned in a Jaguar XK8 back to the dealership, I

>decided to get a Mustang Convertible for the small amount of

>pleasure driving I do. V8 with the GT package and some of the

>bells and whistles.

 

 

Hmmmm - a stud magnet eh? Good on you. Just think of all those hunks that will be sticking their thumb out for a ride in your new wheels!

 

I am still searching for my new car and am having a hard time in coming to grips with the idiotically higher prices for imports in Canada as compared to the US. I feel as our dollars are just about equal, prices should be close to identical. But they are not. The dealers still think they should be able to charge about 50% higher. That's a HUGE differance. Too bad one can't order a new car through Amazon, whose pricing policy seems to be truly realistic.

 

Anyhoo - enjoy your new car, you lucky guy.

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>First, what is it that has brought

>you to uncontrollable tears of joy?

 

(Btw, thanks for sharing such a beautiful story, P-kow). There's just one time I can recall. It was the time, when Derek and I were in our early 20's, that he stayed out all night and I didn't know where he was or what had happened (just as it is today, we were usually together 24 hours a day). After spending a few hours worrying and calling hospitals, I broke down when the big dope finally came home. And he's never done that again. :p

 

>I understand that this has nothing to do with escorts or

>escorting, but since many of the posters here probably live

>lives significantly more affluent than that of their parents,

>I thought some here might have and interesting take on this.

 

Maybe it's a generational thing, but my parents lived a more affluent life than I do. As a kid, I always had everything I wanted, but I also saw my father constantly stressed out from his job. I think that, as a result, I grew up not really caring about making tons of money and not wanting to have a high-stress job. I'm pretty happy with how things have worked out. :)

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