Monday, February 2, 2015

ELMER TELLS OF SOMEONE'S MISTAKE

Some people do the darnest things sometimes in this life.  When I stop to think, I guess we all do it one time or another.  I got an ambulance call the other night and when we got there, an Amish was lying on the ground.  No one saw what happened, but their five year old daughter and she only spoke deutch.  I was trying to get out of her what happened and she kept saying her Father fell off the roof, which sounded right except there was a ladder against the building.  So I asked her if she ment the ladder.  She kept saying no the roof.

When the Father started to wake up after his fall, he wasn't making any sense, so with the wife's permission we took him to the hospital.  They were new people to our area, so I called Bishop Eli and asked him to come to the hospital so the wife and children wouldn't be alone.  He came and stayed with them and I went back with the ambulance.

The next morning, I went over to the house with my ladder.  Introduced myself to the wife and explained that I wanted to check out the roof and see if I could finish the job so her husband wouldn't have to get up there again.  She called me the short man she had seen at church.  They realized what she said and turned red.  I guess she thought I would get angry. I agreed with her, I am the short man. Also, I spoke with their little girl and still she kept insisting that her Father fell off the roof.

Up I went, and there was nothing wrong with the roof.  In fact, it was a brand new one.  When I got on the ground again, the little girl grabbed my arm and showed me where her Father fell.  They was a place where he was putting siding on the house.  That was what he was doing.  I was still trying to figure how he fell from the roof there.

I checked to see if they had enough siding to do the job and they didn't, so I took a piece and went down to the store to get some more.  Then I climbed up and started putting the siding on.  While I was up there Bishop Eli came by to talk with the lady to see how her husband was doing and saw me up there.  After speaking with the lady, he got the man's ladder out and climbed up to help me finish the house.

When we were kids Eli and I use to do jobs like this to earn extra money.  Even as adults, we did.  But as Eli became bishop, we never got together like this anymore except for house or barn raising.  We got talking about how we hadn't done this in a long time together and we really enjoyed it.  Up in the air talking, telling jokes, just like the good old days.  We got the job done.

The lady wanted to pay us, but we wouldn't hear of it.  We told her we would stop by and see her husband a few days later.  He came home from the hospital the day after he fell, in the late afternoon. He didn't show for church that Sunday, but his wife and children did saying he was doing well.  Eli went over to this house after church and then came to my house.  He said the man was doing well as he could with a bad headache  and I had to go over in a couple of days to have him tell me how he fell off the roof.  Eli wouldn't tell me but he was laughing.

So a couple of days later, I went over to the house.  Brought one of Anna's apple pies along for the family.  I asked him if he fell off the roof and he said yes.  Then started to tell me what happened.  Someone he hired had started putting the siding on the house for him and then didn't show up again.  He called them a few times, left a message on their answering machine and got no response.  So he decided to finish the job himself.  There wasn't much left and he felt he could do it.  His wife told him to either hire someone else or ask one of his new Amish neighbors, but he insisted he could do it. He wanted this done before the next snow storm came.  Even with his fear of heights.

He did the lower part which was fine because he could stand on the ground.  As it got higher, he got the ladder.  At first the ladder didn't bother him until he got near the top and looked down.  Then fear took over.  So he decided to go on the roof, lying on the roof, leaning over the side and nail the siding on.  He guessed he leaned over too far because the next thing he knew was he was in the hospital emergency.

I tried not to laugh, I really did, but I couldn't help it.  He laughed with me, too.  So his little girl was right, he did fall off the roof.  I explained how we found it hard to believe with the ladder leaning against the house that you fell off the roof.  He said his little daughter was right - he fell off the roof.
When he fell, his wife and older daughter were in the house.  His sons were in the barn doing chores.  So the only one that saw him go over was their five year old little girl.  She ran into the house and told her Mother.

Since his fall, he had heard that one of my jobs is siding and again wanted to pay me.  I explained that if he had hired me, I got paid.  He didn't hire me.  Eli and I are neighbor's helping neighbor.  Anyway Eli and I had a great time putting his siding on.

When he came to church, everyone knew who he was.  News travels fast among the Amish.  Of course his little girl didn't help by telling everyone that would listen how her father came flying off the roof.

I asked him if I could put the story in here and he said it was fine as long as I didn't mention their names or address.  He felt that by putting this in here, it might stop someone else from doing something stupid like that.  Told him, I wouldn't call it stupid, dumb maybe, but not stupid.  We laughed.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer






20 comments:

Angela Tucker said...

I have done the same thing while painting. LOL I wasn't comfortable on the ladder while stretching to reach the top of the gable. So...I got on the roof, laid down, and finished my painting! And yes, I had my son on the ground asking if he should call Dad and tell him what I was doing. I said no, I was fine, but call 911 if I fell. In retrospect, not the best decision. But I was much younger and thought I had it!

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Angela,

You were brave. I wouldn't have enough courage to on the roof, as I have such a fear of heights.

Marilyn

Anonymous said...

Hi, thank God he wasn't killed, fx'd his neck/back etc + became paralyzed as a result. Stop, think, and don't be afraid or prideful to ask for help. Not asking deprives the person of a blessing to be of aid. We should do all we SAFELY can and be wise in seeking help beyond our abilities. None of us can do everything.
Thank You,Lord, for Eli+Elmer's aiding their neighbour in need, following the Lord out of love for Him. Amen.
Be careful out there as this storm goes through today. Blessings, Carol

Vickie said...

What a happy ending to this!

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Carol,
I think he learned his lesson after that fall. No one is going any where Where I live today. Can't even find a place to walk Pierre. The snow is do deep.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Vickie,

It did have a happy ending.

Hugs to Mabel and Henry from,
Marilyn and Pierre

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Folks,
Grandmother Olive and Grandfather Albert are suppose to be on Amtrak today heading first to Penn Central and then to New York City. Jean is trying to find if the train left at 5:40 AM this morning. The driver that took them to the train station said they were on it, but didn't see it leave. Jean is calling Amtrak to make sure it left.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Afternoon,
Jean found her grandparents or rather they called her. The train did not leave. It will be on tomorrow's post. Her Grandparents are safe.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Afternoon,
Jean found her grandparents or rather they called her. The train did not leave. It will be on tomorrow's post. Her Grandparents are safe.

Marilyn

Ingrid said...

First, i'd like to say that I'm happy the man didn"t get seriously injured. Then, i think we all have done things that seemed perfectly logical at the time,but afterward we would have to admit were really stupid.
As usual Elmer has a great way of telling a story. As a result of helping someone in need,Elmer and Eli had a chance to revisit the past and share some good time.Very nice to see this happen.
Hope Jean's grandparents are well and that this delay will just be part of story they can share about their trip and vacation. Ingrid

Tom said...

One thing that I'm sure of is that God never wanted me to be on a ladder or roof. Sometimes I listen. Tom The Backroads Traveller

Dynna said...

Thank God this man did not get seriously hurt. How lovely to have neighbors that can come and finish the job. Glad to hear that the grandparents are alright and just delayed. I hope they have a good trip to Fla. Blessings to you and Pierre, Marilyn.

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Ingrid,
I think we have all done some things in like that as we look back we shouldn't have done. Myself included. Jean's Grandparents are safe and sound in Rochester. I hope it will just add to their trip.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Tom,
I agree with you.. I would never get on a ladder or the roof.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Dynnamae n,
Glad this man wasn't hurt serious, too. Think he learned his lesson. Sure hope all this snow has Jean's Grandparents appreciating Florida even more.

Blessings to you and yours,
Marilyn and Pierre

kymber said...

Marilyn - i am glad that Grandmother Olive and Grandfather are safe. please tell Elmer how much we enjoy his posts and stories - he tells such a good yarn as we say up here - bahahahahah! and please tell everyone how much we enjoy all of their posts. but that Elmer - oh my goodness he is funny!

thanks Marilyn for all that you do here! your friend,
kymber

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Kymber,
Will see that Elmer gets your message. Elmer just has a way of telling things with a sense of humor. Jean's Grandparents are safe and sound. They are hoping the Amtrak trains are moving tomorrow so they can get to Florida.

Thank you for the compliments.

Your Friend,
Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

We hit one million pageviewers tonight. I thank you all so much for coming to New York State of Mind.

Marilyn

Willow's Quiet Corner said...

I can relate to the man's fear of being so high up on that ladder! I was pretty fearless when I was younger, even went up in airplanes with the parachuters, but I was too young and mom wouldn't let me jump. But, I remember sitting next to the door, looking down while the others stepped over me to get out for their jumps. Good thing none of them tripped and sent me out the door with them!

But, when I got a little older (wiser? ? ?), I remember going up to this little room at the top of this tower above the roof of a building to deliver dinner to the DJ who was doing a special broadcast there and not being able to get back on the ladder to get down I was so terrified. It took me nearly 1/2 hour to make myself get back on that ladder. There were only 2 ways down, the ladder or . . . falling!

To be fair, it was really, really, really high! Maybe 20 feet or more above the roof, which was already probably 20 feet above the ground. The ladder was really wobbly as it was extended to the maximum. And, . . . I was wearing heels! :)

Great story, Elmer! It was so nice of you and Eli to help and to be able to reminisce about days gone by!

Can't wait to hear about Grandmother Olive's adventure!

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Willow's Quiet Corner,
You are braver than I am. I would never have gone up or down that ladder. I don't mind flying in a plane, but I wouldn't want to jump out of one although a friend of mine does.

Will see that Elmer and Grandmother both get your messages.

Marilyn