Life, the little house, and English 304

If I remember correctly, term paper quarter for English at Eastern Illinois University was English 304. It was a third year level course that was required, and one that was dreaded by many students. I had written several term papers up to that point in my education, and they were always a struggle. Seldom were they the quality I wanted them to be when I got finished working through the composition. I regret to say I do not remember the professor for this course, but the procedure was simple. We were first to determine a subject, do the necessary reading and study while taking notes on cards, and then arrange our note cards to make an outline and body of the term paper as we made footnotes for our sources. Many note cards would be discarded during the fleshing out of the term paper if they did not fit in well with the subject. I was amazed how easy that made it to complete the composition, and I handed in a very satisfactory paper for a good grade in the class.

The little house

Not far from our farm was a little house near the blacktop headed to one of our major trading areas. It was not a big house, but it was well kept, always well painted, and the lawn was always mowed and trimmed. Early on as I watched the house, there were toys in the yard and evidence of much activity. I never saw anyone outside, nor I did not know the people living there. It seemed such a pleasant place with happy people, based on the care given the house and the activity that was evidently occurring based on the excellent condition of the exterior.

In time, a small cement slab was poured behind the house, with a small shelter built over it housing a couple of picnic tables and a grill for cooking. I never saw anyone having a picnic there, but it was obvious that it was used, based on the movements of the grill and picnic tables in the shelter. It appeared the family was growing, and enjoying time together.

In all these years, I never happened to be past this neat house when anyone was outside, but I always watched the house with pleasure, as it seemed happiness was shared in the house based on the care given the buildings and grounds. I began to look forward to passing by and seeing what would happen next, when they would paint the trim on the windows, when the roof would get new shingles, and what new landscaping would be done. The landscaping and improvements in the little house were never elaborate or expensive, but they were well done with loving care. New bushes were planted, small trees were cared for, and flowers surrounded the small slab porch with the dormer-like roof over the front door that faced the blacktop.

Then came a time when the condition of the house and grounds began to stabilize. There were no toys in the yard, but an extra car or two parked nearby, which suggested the children were growing up. Eventually there was only one car near the house, and I assumed the kids had grown up and left the home. Still, the lawn was always well cared for, the flowers were planted every spring and tended throughout the year, and the house and trim continued to be well maintained. I still had yet to see anyone in the yard or see the people who cared for the house, but I began to think of them as friends I had never met, and respected the way they lived their life.

One day while passing, there were two large oxygen bottles on the small slab porch under the dormer-style roof over the front door. Eventually the numbers of these green cylinders began to increase, and it was evident that three or four full cylinders would be on one side of the door, and empty ones were on the other. Something was happening to the people who lived in this neat well cared for house next to the blacktop, and it probably was not pleasant for them. Along with sickness comes worry, and even though I had not met these people, I worried and prayed for them in their sickness.

Then the oxygen bottles disappeared!

Sadly, one day there were no oxygen bottles on the porch, and no car in the driveway. I did not know what had changed, but was very saddened to think what had occurred to these friends I had never met. The house began to decay, first it needed painting, and then the picnic area roof rotted and fell down on the deteriorating picnic table in the back of the house. The lawn was no longer mowed, and flowers were not planted in the spring to brighten the area. It is still sad for me to see this house, once so full of life, continue to decline.

I realized I had witnessed the outline for a life

English 304, the little house, and life than began to make sense to me after thinking about those life-long observations. The house was the outline for the term paper of life these people in the little house on the blacktop lived. I never had the pleasure of writing or reading the note cards that fleshed out the important details of their life, as I had never met the people living that term paper. I could only imagine what might have happened to this family, but from observations I have to assume it was a typical well-lived simple life with the sad and happy times we all experience as we fill out the note cards making up the details of our lives.

How are you filling out the note cards of your life?

Most all of us decide an outline for our lives sometime while we are young by the choices we make. Some choices are not so good, and we need to discard those notes in the wastebasket and try to forget we ever wrote them. Some experiences and choices we note are full of happiness, and fit well into our life outline. Still, the choices we make are ours to make, and it is in the living of those small experiences of our lives together that we determine how well we live our lives. We never know who is watching our choices, or how we might influence others we have never met. Like the little house on the blacktop, it is often through observation that others share our lives. Is your life an inspiration for others, or something others would try to avoid? The choices are yours, as you write the term paper that is your life.