Hickey Theology

My mom practically raised six kids on her own. As I have shared before our dad was a Merchant Marine. Dad went around the world seven times in both directions.

While he experienced exotic countries and cities mom lived a life that was filled with difficult times. She managed this even when she was sick, but on this day mom was bedridden. She had all her teeth pulled to prepare for her new dentures.

Mom was in a lot of pain and so we were trying to help around the house. I was in the garage cleaning things up. In the garage was something very special. Mom and dad had gotten a Ducan Fife dining table and chairs from Alburn and Nell Speers.

Mom and dad spent many hours refinishing each piece to its original beauty. Mom could not wait to move it into the house so that we could come together around it for family gatherings, but that day would never come.

For some reason I felt that our car needed to be in the garage. I didn’t go ask Chris, my oldest brother, to help to put the car in the garage. I was sure I was able to do it. I was 12 years old, 5 foot 4 inches and I weighed 234 pounds. I could barely see over the dashboard of our Bonneville Station Wagon and to this day I don’t know why I even thought that I could drive it.

Before I knew it, I started the car. I pulled the leveled down to drive and the car lurched forward. It headed straight for mom and dad’s precious table. The sound of wood being crushed struck fear in my heart. I knew that my mom was going to kill me. I jump out of the car forgetting to put it in park.

Chris came running into the garage in pure panic. If looks could kill I would have been dead right on the spot. Chris jumped in the car and put it in park before it ran through the back of the garage. I ran to the backyard before Chris could get out of the car. In the back yard I stood in shock mostly, but I was in fear of what Chris was going to do to me.

What happened next is a moment that is forever remembered in annals of Hickey family history. Chris came running out of the garage and I only had a moment to decide what to do. I suddenly started running not towards a gate but the fence.

I hope you remember that I was short and fat, and unable to barely jump over a curb. Before I knew it, grab the top of the fence and cleared it without touching anything, to my surprise and my brother Chris’s surprise I took flight and cleared the fence. It was at that moment Chris stopped chasing me and fell to the ground laughing. Chris had witnessed a miracle, that pigs can fly!

I returned home and Chris tried to act mad but every time he described what he saw he started to laugh. Although, my mom laughed I heard her crying about the table. It was the day I took flight, but it was the first time I heard my mom cry and it broke my heart. Until Next Time

Grace and Peace