Every Penny Counts

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. Proverbs 111”12 NIV

So, what does that Scripture have to do with my blog today? Good question. In this age, we want everything at once, and we seem to have very little patience for savoring the process. We want only the result, and we want it now!. If there was ever one person who was the antitheses of this, it was my mother. My mother knew the value of the process and accumulating little by little to make it grow.

One of the may talents that my mother had was the talent of sewing and making crafts. Her seamstress skills were well known to the clothing merchants of Wallace, and they often called on her to do alterations and special projects. One of her main "customers” was Rullmans. Rullmans offered fine clothing, and perhaps with the exception of Patano's in Kellogg, was the finest clothing store in the Coeur d' Alene Mining District. of course, finer suites often require alterations, and the suites that Rullmans sold were no exception. When a customer needed his pants cuffed, taken in, or shortened, my mother got the call.

My mother was a very humble person, and I don't think that she even began to comprehend how talented she really was. So, she charged very little for her work, even when it took way more time than what she charged for. We were always trying to get her to charge more, but steadfastly refused. 

Over the years, she did more alterations, made many craft items, and even made a sports coat for the principal of Wallace High, which was no small job. Mom never bought anything herself, but made all of her own clothes, and made sure that we all had everything that we needed. Now, not only did she have the talent of sewing and craft making, she was very, very, thrifty, and unknown to my dad, Mom tucked away a lot of those extra dollars, nickels, and dimes. When I was well along in adulthood, the motor on their car went out, and Dad was very distraught because he wondered how he was going to pay for the very high cost for getting the car fixed. He was retired by then, and money was not flowing at that time. 

I happened to be visiting about that time, ad my dad and I were sitting in their living room discussing the car, when my mother came out of their bedroom and handed my dad an envelope filled with cash.  There was enough money in it to get a new motor for the car. the look on my dad's face was one for the ages. He had no idea that she scrimped and saved all of the extra nickels and dimes that that she made.