Kindness Leaves A Legacy

What feels like a million years ago now, a woman and her two children moved to Quincy Florida all on their own. The company that the woman worked for told her they would take care of getting her and all her belongings moved, to not worry one little bit.

As the time grew closer for her to move, she noticed that no one was saying anything about hiring a moving service to pack-up her things and get them from Albany Georgia to Quincy Florida. So, a week away from the time scheduled for her to move, she finally asked, just what was the plan to be?

She would soon find out that a couple of fellows from that same said company would be moving her and all her belongings here – not a moving company. They would rent a big U-Haul trailer, and they would  help her pack and load.

The man heading up that group of “movers” was Ricky “Big Rick” Gleaton. He drove to Albany Georgia with a U-Haul truck and a regular truck and small trailer hooked behind it. To this day, I know he was not prepared for the work that was before him once he arrived.

Ricky and I, and his other two helpers worked all day, boxing and loading that U-Haul. Sometime around 3 or 4 o’clock I was finally brave enough to tell him that I wanted to also bring my smallest child’s swing-set. He said no problem, they dug it up, as the poles were concreted down, and loaded it on the back of the open trailer.

Then I showed him my front yard wooden swing attached to wooden posts that were also concreted into the ground. Right after my divorce, my daddy and my children built that swing together. My daddy said my little family needed to somewhere to sit and talk about our days, and that’s exactly what has happened; for about 22 years now. The swing itself has had to be replaced, but those same wooden posts are what sits in my yard today, holding another swing filled with conversation history.

Ricky also dug up that swing/poles, and you won’t believe this, but I told him I wanted to bring my two crepe myrtle trees that sat on either side of it, as they hadn’t been long planted. Without blinking an eye, he asked did I have a shovel and proceeded to dig those up too!

By the time we made it to Quincy that evening, it was almost dark. We decided not to unload until the next day. All we took inside my new house was a lamp and my mattresses; at first. Which was fine with me! But nothing would do until the bed frame was set-up and the mattresses on it. Ricky didn’t want me sleeping on the “floor”.

Ricky Gleaton is gone now, but that’s who that man was; to me, and everyone else he ever knew. His little girl and granddaughter got married this past weekend; Susan was a beautiful bride and I know she made her Daddy so very proud, and I know he was watching from the best cloud in heaven.