31 Days of Life Stories #13

Did you ever see that movie, Little Princess, with Shirley Temple who played Sarah Crewe? It was the story of a little rich girl who became poor and was made to be the servant at the boarding school where she once was honored and cherished. In the end her fortunes were restored, but oh! how she suffered.

en.wikipedia.org

One of my favorite scenes in the movie was how she had went to sleep in the dark cold attic with broken-down furnishings surrounding her. A neighbor, observing her poverty, snuck in and decorated her room with thick blankets, a warm fire, food at a table set in splendor. I believe there was also warm beautiful clothing provided as well. What a surprise! Where she lived did not look like it did the day before.

Once, on a much much smaller scale, I had a surprise, too.

One day, I went to school having gotten dressed in my very first room of my own, a blue bedroom in our new house in Tampa.

But after school, instead of walking home, my parents were waiting to pick me up. Instead of going home to my blue bedroom, they took me to a different house and showed me my new pink bedroom.

They had traded houses and moved all in one day!

There had been a malfunction of the heater up in the attic that had caused a small fire. Dad went to have a talk with owners of the subdivision about making it right. We had only lived there three weeks, I think.

Long story short, it was decided to trade us a different house for the same money. Mom and Dad liked the different house better and got right to work moving our things. My uncle, aunt and grandmother helped, too. Looking back, it was kind of amazing they were able to move everything in time to pick us up from school. (Of course, this did not mean boxes were unpacked.)

Anyway, I always thought of Sarah Crewe when I realized where I lived didn't look like it did the day before.

Moral of the story:  you never know what a day will bring.

This post is #13 in my series, 31 Days of Life Stories. Hundreds of writers are linking up at the 31 Day Writing Challenge hosted by Crystal Stine. There is a wealth of information on many topics. Go visit and see! I'll be posting under the category "Inspiration and Faith."