A heroic tale

My husband rocks.

The other day, he did the most absolutely amazing thing, in my book anyway.

You see, at the school where he works, there is a lovely courtyard nestled between the buildings. There are some very special inhabitants of said courtyard – two precious-most-adorable-box-turtles. Some of you are probably scratching your head & wonder since when are box turtles adorable? In this girl’s book ALL turtles are adorable, and yes, I admit to being totally biased on that fact. However, let’s just keep that little tidbit between you and I; Toby Turtle would be insanely jealous if he found out he wasn’t my one & only. Anyway, these precious-most-adorable-box-turtles reside in the courtyard year round, even hibernating during the winter season, and have thrived there for several years.

The other morning as my beloved was performing his daily rounds, checking on the building before the chaos of the day began, he had the most intense urge to go check on the turtles. Call it fate, or some cosmic force pulling him to where he needed to be in the universe at that exact moment, or even a mere coincidence if you must – whatever it was, he listened to his intuition and headed to the courtyard pronto.

As he entered the courtyard, (get your Kleenex ready) one of the precious-most-adorable-box-turtles was smack dab in the middle of the murky, muddy, slimy, algae filled pond, completely still. First impressions were NOT pleasant by any means; the husband rushed over to assess the damage and free the turtle from his watery grave, certain that the little fellow had gone to meet his maker. Unlike Toby Turtle, who is a swimmer extraordinaire, box turtles are not aquatic and can drown in the smallest amounts of water.

Imagine the husband’s surprise & delight when the little fellow lifted his head up as he was being freed to look at his rescuer, as if he was using his last ounce of strength to convey the sentiment “thank you God!”

Precious-most-adorable-box-turtle was gently placed on dry land, and it’s rumored that he gazed at his rescuer with an intensely grateful grin. Precious-most-adorable box turtle #2 came out of hiding to sit with precious-most-adorable-box-turtle #1, and there they sat together for a good portion of the morning, until both had recovered from the trauma and had enough energy to go about their normal business of basking, eating, snoozing, and more basking. Lather, rinse, & repeat.

As my husband recanted this entire experience to me, naturally I gushed about what a hero he was, and peppered him with hugs & kisses. It was a good day.

One can only imagine the thoughts of desperation and hopelessness this little box turtle must have gone thru, and for how long his ordeal lasted.  At the moment when all hope was lost, and he more than likely accepted his fate, a miracle happened. Did he expect that miracle? Highly doubtful. Was his dire situation drastically changed in one minute’s time? You bet it was.

Next time you are feeling as if you are stuck in the mud, unable to free yourself from whatever bonds may be holding you down, when all seems hopeless – remember the story of the precious-most-adorable-box-turtle. In one split second, a miracle happened in his life & he was given another chance. Another chance to learn from his mistake, grow from it, and to never repeat it – no looking back, no regrets, simply moving forward and embracing each new day and all the wonders contained within.

Miracles really DO happen. We just have to slow down enough to watch for them, or we might miss them.