Knights in shining armour

I woke up on the Friday morning after Tropical Storm Gustav had passed, happy that my home had suffered no damage, only to hear the news that the fence separating my property from the golf course was down. I now had an unimpeded panoramic view – the green melting into a row of trees, on into the Liguanea plain on which Kingston is situated and further into the Kingston harbour on the horizon. Beautiful! I had always wished for this view. Now I had it.

My immediate concern was for my 5 dogs who are used to roaming free, albeit in the confines of the yard, and who often gather at the back fence to gaze longingly at the open space and bark at the golfers. Then I thought of the fruit-gatherers who roam the golf course, crocus bags and fruit-pickers in hand, eyes peeled for any fruit that could possibly have value in the Constant Spring market. My dogs now had free access to the golf course, and the fruit gatherers had free access to my property – not a happy situation for me at all.

In dismay I surveyed the damage and did a quick calculation of the likely cost. Adding this to the school fees I was just about to pay, and the attendant back to school expenses, my panic went into overdrive. “Damsel-in-distress” was my state of mind, a feeling of helplessness overpowering me. My older son in Trinidad, my brother in London – the men who are usually there for me were far away! What was I to do? I returned to the house, a bundle of nervous, negative, fearful energy. My 13-year old son Shane gazed at me in bewilderment for awhile and then declared, with all the confidence, the all-knowingness of the universe “But Mummy, we can fix the fence. We can just get a rope, pull it up and tie it on to something”. And in that moment, my wonderful son showed me “Marguerite, you have choices”. I was so elated, I hugged and kissed him declaring “Thank you my brilliant son”. He went off happily to find some rope, secure in his role as the man of the house!

Oh what a lesson! What a reminder of the wisdom of a child who knows that we live in a world of infinite possibilities and that we always have choices. Interesting that whenever we feel we have a problem the real issue is our perception or belief that we have no choice. Once we come out of the no-choice abyss, the “problem” tends to go away or at least lessen in significance. I relaxed – problem? What problem? For I now realised that the problem was only a problem in my mind, and that there were numerous possible solutions.

Here’s what happened next. I picked up the September Daily Word, and opened it to that day’s reading entitled “Let go and let God”. Now I was SURE that the universe was talking to me in no uncertain terms, emphasising what Shane had just revealed to me – I have choice, once I let go. And so I let go completely of the damsel-in-distress role, and spent a happy day caring for my children, my 5 dogs, my sister’s 3 dogs and 7 puppies! In and out of my consciousness throughout the day came thoughts about the fence – and as quickly as they came, they were banished by Shane’s comment and the Daily Word reading.

As evening fell, a name suddenly came to me very forcefully and very clearly – Roddie, one of my brother’s dearest friends, who works with a construction firm. I called him, and before I could complete the story of the Gustaved fence, he stated “Marguerite, I will be at your house at 8.00 a.m. tomorrow morning”. And he was. By 11.00 a.m. he had located Miguel, the most delightful workman, and by 3.00 p.m. he informed me that work would start on Monday morning. He negotiated the labour cost, and made arrangements for materials to be delivered to me. He advised me each step of the way, and checked the progress everyday. Thursday evening I returned home to find my dogs frolicking happily in the back yard, their abode now secure as the fence was restored.

What a lesson of the value of a friend! What a lesson of the wisdom of a child! What a lesson of how ease and grace can manifest when we let go and let God! Thank you Sir Shane and Sir Roddie, my knights in shining armour – you sure made a difference to the life of this “damsel-in-distress”!