Today (now yesterday and today at this point) has been a bit busy – not complaining and I am hanging in there with the waves of emails and phone calls – all is groovy and going. Moving Difference is really starting to get – ironically – moving!
It is a really great to hear and chat with people wanting to help. I actually love that part the best. Someone who calls or emails and says “I am going to do Moving Difference, and I am interested in (insert group), can you help me find something?” and 10-15 minutes later, they are off going to help the world out. It is a great thrill!!
After a long day, I am still sitting here at my computer, 12:11a.m., replying to emails of people seeking information about Moving Difference, where they can help and other details that they need to make the project happen. Each one of these emails needs a human eye and a sincere reply to their questions. It is why Moving Difference is different; it is you and me and our friends & family. It is human. I realized that amongst everything of a normal day of my life, I have replied to over 1000+ emails and at least a 25+ phone calls. And there is still over 350+ emails unread to answer and my voicemail is full (I don’t have a clue as to how many calls it holds, but the phone says 34 missed calls).
This is a good day. It is a fulfilling day.
Then my phone rings – bear in mind, it is now 12:31 a.m. – it is an “unknown caller”.
‘Great’ I thought ‘Probably one of those scam calls’. I was going to let it go to voicemail, when I realized that my voicemail was full.
So I answer the phone “Hello?”
“Is this Jeny?” the deep voice says on the other end.
“Who is this please?” I said after all it is after midnight.
“It’s Mike!”
Oh – I thought- that helps! I must know ten Mikes – Great- perfect – remain calm.
“Hi Mike, what can I do for you tonight?”
“You don’t know what Mike this is, do you?”
“No, I don’t. But I figure if you are calling me, I know you or at least of you, and many people don’t call after midnight, so what can I help you with?”
The reply was a great big deep laugh followed by “My gosh, Jeny you haven’t changed in twenty-five years, always helping strangers!”
I am still clueless, now getting laughed at and getting annoyed…
“Okay, who is this?” I asked firmly.
Another laugh – “It is Mike from the Cheyenne Frontier Days Pancake Feeds. Do you still wear that stupid looking red saddle coat?”
“Wholly cow! Mike! How did you get my number?”
“I got friends” followed by another deep laugh.
As we dove into a funny loving catching-up conversation, I realized that I had not spoken to Mike in more than twenty-five years and here we were chatting like old friends. Swapping tales of our lives since we last spoke – lost lives, found loves, horses, rodeo and hopes. Now talk about a blast from the past!
I asked after a while “Mike, why call me after all this time? Do you need something?”
“Jeny, I got this forwarded email this morning from a friend in Texas about Moving Difference, your little article. When I looked your picture, I swore I knew you. There is only one Jeny in the world I know. Dug out some of the old picture albums and found you much younger. I have a photo of you and I doing the Cheyenne Frontier Days pancake feed with that stupid red saddle coat.” Another laugh.
“Mike, don’t pick on the red saddle coat, it saved my skin more than once.” I said matter-of-factly.
Another laugh “Remember those pancake feeds?”
“Indeed I do, hours of flipping pancakes to feed lines and lines of people. Batter in those cement portable mixers, and July hot in Cheyenne and we had to dress like cowboys remember?”
“Yup, that’s it. Sweating those long cowboy shirts off, standing in boots all morning and the western hat to hold in all that darn griddle heat!”
“Yeah – you are forgetting those sexy red bandana aprons the 4-H kids made. We were ‘Cowboy Hooters’ at that point!”
“The crew looked silly, but you looked stupid Jeny – wearing all that and that red saddle coat on top. You always had the most energy – I never could figure that out.”
“Mike?”
“Yes?”
“I took the coat’s lining out and wore a two-piece swimsuit under that coat with boots so I would be cooler.”
“That makes cowboy sense now.”
WE both start laughing very loud.
As our conversation wandered into the early morning hour, with laughter and memories of throwing pancakes at each other, I realized that both Mike and I were older now but still very young at heart. Someone that I worked several free pancake feeds with was on the other end of the line because he was human, he cared and he remembered. Mike was the guy that called each and every person to get them to sign up to help, he was there at the site before everybody else, he worked with the crew, he was the pancake syrup runner, he was the dishwasher, he was the last person to leave, he was crowd-pleaser (and controller), he was the one that called each and every person to thank them for showing up and he was the one that sent you a personal thank you note in the mail. Mike was the reason so many of us stumbled out of our beds at 4am to be knee-deep in pancakes by 6am and still going at 1pm with clean-up.
As our conversation wrapped up, Mike said:
“It’s been nice shooting the bull with you, Jeny but I called ‘cause I am not on that Face-thing and I need another way to report my hours for Moving Difference.”
“Well, you email right?”
“Yup.”
“Okay, well, just email them to me and I will post it on the Facebook site for you. It isn’t a problem, happy to do it.”
“That’s mighty kind of you, Jeny.”
“Really, no problem, Mike. Are you doing the pancake feed for the project?”
“Nope, stopped those years ago. I am 73 now and retired from pancakes.”
“Oh, what are you doing then?”
“It’s a special thing, Jeny. I want to be useful again as a cowboy.”
“Mike, you are always a cowboy.”
“True. I say, after reading your little article and you teaching chess, I thought of something that works for me to teach.”
“Really? That is cool – what?”
“Got new neighbors from Florida, they got two kids 11 and 13. Never rode a horse before. Real city kids stuck in their phones. Going to teach them how to ride a horse western and proper cowboy things. Talked with the kids’ mama before I called you, everything is set to start next week with them – an hour a week all summer long. She is mighty grateful, she is going to pay it forward too. She is going to give an hour a week at the library when I am teaching the kids. The dad is in the military, he’s going to volunteer at the VA when he can.”
My voice choked “That’s awesome Mike. Thank you.”
And Mike replied “No, Jeny, thank you. It’s what we need to do. People need to know people care.”
Wow was all I could think. We exchanged our emails, said our goodbyes and hung up.
I got up from the computer went and splashed some water on my face, it was 1:14am, and there are still 350+ emails to do. I grab a cup of ice water and head back to it.
Now it is 3:36 am, I am still buzzing from talking with Mike. I wrote this up and am half done on the emails answering personally and sincerely because I care, like Mike cares, like you care. We are all in it together. Moving Difference is about going that extra mile to make that difference no matter the time or age or the person and it is about being thankful. Now I am going to bed when I get the last email replied to in a few more hours until then –
See you later…. Space Cowboys!
Moving Difference 