And now it's done! A new roof, and the City of Springfield off of my back, no more threats of homelessness - which are quite frightening to one who has been homeless - and I'm set now to burn ahead into making both these Homes into real showcases for what real and proper aid can be delivered to those who - like me - suffer from alcoholism and addiction!
So I'm incredibly happy! True, I'm still a bit peeved at the State of Illinois that it had to be this way, but mostly I'm happy!
Brief description of peeve - I had previously earned all the money to do this project, and to have it done professionally, with all the insurance worries took care of by the hired contractor, and not having to worry about a thing! Yet the State of Illinois, for whom I worked, has not paid me. At all. This led to the situation of the first paragraph, where I had to go to extraordinary lengths to get this done in time! With no money!!
Okay! Back to the happy part! Yeah, I'm happy! Because I'm suspecting that it went down this way to teach me some valuable lessons! A miracle, some would say, and yes...I think so! With a very specific miracle to make sure I knew it was a miracle! (I'll get to that part!)
You see, because looking at it in the proper way, I'll be having that $1,000 paid off probably within two months, three tops, and the City can wait till I'm good and ready for the fine, which yes, I'll work out a payment plan with them! And I give plasma all the time anyway, and so am really only extra tired from all the extra work! And oh, yeah, I don't have credit to "max out", it just feels like it! True, I'll have to pay off some $30 overage fees, probably several, but I'll get it done! And any friend upset at me borrowing or begging was no friend at all, and healthy dissension with some who tried to slow me down is good, and oh, yeah, did I mention I have a new roof so it's all good no matter what?
Why else am I happy? Well, I learned some valuable lessons, like for one, my reputation is a bit better than when I was an active drunk and sinner! I've a great many good friends, and more to the point, they have seen that I have really reformed! And these aren't just fellow alcoholic friends, but "real people" who have succeeded in life, and that is great comfort and solace to me!
And because of them seeing my reformation, they have really and truly been there for me in a pinch! I could not begin to express what it's like to see so many good and decent people from all walks of life come to aid me!
Oh, wait - I can give a small idea! Remember in "It's a Wonderful Life" when George Bailey was in trouble and all the townsfolk came to dump money on his table to save him from a great deal of trouble in his time of desperate need?
It was like that with me!
I was in desperate, desperate trouble, having earned the money I needed to do this on my own, but then had it had withheld from me by the State of Illinois, and the City was going to green tag my house and make it so I could not live there! With various other dominoes tipping from that point, I could well have lost everything I've worked for! (And if I were still a sinning drunk, I know I would have.)
But I - prudently skipping the jumping in the freezing river and meeting up with the angel Clarence part! - explained the situation to everyone I knew, mostly via facebook, and I was saved!
Literally saved!
I had old friends from my college days aid me, and Brothers and Sisters of mine from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aid me, and a very great leader in our Church reached down to lift me up with a very timely loan! An incredible loan, very large, done on nothing but a handshake and a smile, and that with the aid of a select few of other wonderful Church members really saw me through this trying time and made possible the materials needful for this!
I was also blessed in another way, one that touched me very much. I needed a great deal of labor - skilled labor. And there it was, embodied in the men of the sober living home I've been running. For at least three of them work as construction workers for general contractors. And one had been a roofing contractor most of his life! If you know anything of sober living homes, you'll know that such a fact doesn't always mean very much, as most Homes are run in a fashion that there is some odd antagonism between the helper and those helped. An antagonism that I dislike, and have strove to make sure does not exist in our Home! As I always say, "The goal is that you succeed!"
One guest was only there for one day when it came time to do all that skilled work on the roof - and another had been there for nearly a year. Yet another had been kicked out twice, but accepted back for a third try! But regardless of time in, they were all behind the project 100%! And the three who had the specific time and skills for it, did so, and at a discounted rate so discounted, that I'm just treating it as a gift!
And unless you know any roofers who expect only $6 per hour and free lunch, then yeah, it was a completely selfless gift, and loving act of pure charity! (I had waived a program fee for each one who aided, which worked out to about $6 per hour for each of them for the three days of work they each did.) Most touching of all, they hadn't asked for it in advance, but when they volunteered it to aid me, I offered it to each of them!
This wasn't any haphazard work by the way. This was as professional as it comes. Thanks to other aids from Church Brothers who loaned air compressors and nail guns, tools and tarps, and invaluable safety aids, and everything else needed to make it go smoothly. With some of the Sisters providing the food and the men of the Liahona Home bringing their own tools!
What a three days! Friday, Saturday, and yes, though I hate to do work on the Sabbath, Sunday, when it became necessary. I'm beat now, typing this up. But exhilarated! I see a clear road with limitless possibilities now! This was the last real impediment to success, though I credit my Brothers and Sisters at Church for aiding in brushing away the previous roadblocks before this final one! And the wonderful guests and friends of the sober living home!
I also believe in my heart in a genuine miracle. It was an odd one, and some would say a small one, which convinces me all the more that it was a real genuine Miracle, capital "M". Each day leading up to the roof needing done, another thing would come up. Another bit of money would have to be found, another bill deferred to pay for this or that material, another tool found from some friend, more plasma donated! Always another thing and fewer and fewer people to ask each time, as one hates to be a nuisance!
And finally, on this last day, we were short several items and I had some how pulled it off - in three trips to Lowes, on this very last day, and doing that overage thing, I'd got all the supplies needed, and no more could be got! But then - a roof vent was lacking! And needed!
True, some might say you don't "have to have to" have one, and I had four others, two for each of the other two sides! But it does let heat build up and decrease the life of the shingles. And if you know the City of Springfield's Building and Zoning folks - and you can bet that I do! - then you want to make sure not to have left off anything obvious! Like a given section of the roof having no vent!
But what to do? No money left at all, I have to wait to Tuesday just to go give plasma to have gas money! No one left to call, heck, was there anyone I hadn't called? *really and truly blushes* Man, do I hate asking for aid! Even for loans! It makes me cringe! And had it not been for Mr. Potter - er, the State of Illinois...grrr!
And just when I was about to give up hope, and take my chances doing it wrong, a friend of mine who is a guest of the Home, and who was doing the lion's share of the roofing work, called down to me from the top of the roof and said, "Isn't that a roofing vent over there?" And pointed to the back woods behind my house, where there was no earthly reason for a roofing vent to be!
And yet...it was! An old roofing vent. Why there, I've no clue. No, it wasn't pristine and shiny and new, that would strain credulity, but while it was old, and dirty, it was serviceable, and is now appropriately installed on that side of the roof, all in conformance with accepted codes and practices!
A miracle. Or so I believe. I mean, c'mon, what other explanation could it be? Random people leaving roofing vents in the woods by a railroad track behind my home, not to be noticed till today by the roofer who needed one just then that very moment? A beer bottle left, yeah, I'd believe that, given the neighborhood, but a roofing vent? A miracle is the simplest explanation and I'm sticking with that!
And it heartens me! And affirms my goals, my plans, and all my dreams! And makes me all the firmer in my resolve to push forward! I'll be doing other things on the houses now. The basement plumbing fixed. Painting. Landscaping. Curbside appeal.
These two houses will be showcases, and their own best advertisement for any who need such aid! And soon enough, by the end of the summer, I sense that self-sufficiency will be a real possibility!
I think...I think I may have just arrived! Not in the sense of material wealth, but more importantly, in spiritual and social wealth! I think I'm finally getting it right!
Thank you to everyone! For seeing in me the "try" that I've been striving for these many years!
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