A friend was telling me about a recent visit with her grandson. They love to explore games and one day they tried a new one.
"Grandma, this game is called Chutes and Ladders, and sometimes you get a bad card." his eyebrows wrinkled with warning. "But you gotta do what it says. Even if it's a chute and you have to slide back down. It might happen." Clearly he understood the rules even if he was too young to read them.
She nodded at the seriousness of the situation, and they each picked a plastic gingerbread man. She chose yellow. He had red. His favorite.
Things went along swimmingly for a few turns, and they were both making progress along the board. But then her grandson landed on an unlucky square. Just like that he was sent down to the bottom. It nearly killed him.
"Ooooh! I don't want this card! But I have to have it," he moaned. She wanted more than anything to give him an out. To let him tuck it under the pack and pick again. But they would both know he cheated. He sighed deeply, dragged his red man ten spaces backwards, and plunked his chin in his palm.
"Your turn, Grandma."
She thought about some of the set backs she has experienced in the past few years. Health issues have taken a heavy toll. Money has sometimes been tighter than a noose. Her other children have wrestled with college, and relationships. But there was only so much she could do to help them get ahead.
Yet she knew from experience that not every loss is as enormous as it feels. Having weathered storms in her own life she understood that winds change. Hearts heal. Forgiveness is possible.
She rolled the dice, and moved her little man a few paces. The future would come soon enough. For now there was no where she would rather be.
Love, Lori
