A shopping cart saved my life. Don’t look at me that way…I’m old, but I still got all my marbles. I’ve had this cart since 1978, when I had my first baby. We didn’t have the fancy strollers then and even if we did, I couldn’t afford one. I had to borrow this cart from my neighborhood store. I’d lay my baby in the wire basket in a bed of blankets and walk to the grocery store three blocks from my house, carting food and diapers and a sleeping babe back and forth. I locked that cart up to the bike rake at our apartment building. No one messed with it. Never.
I had three kids in that thing and when they were grown and left my house, I still used the cart near every day. My cart came with me everywhere—picking up garbage around my apartment building, delivering food to my sick neighbors, carrying books from the library—walking, walking everywhere. And a few years back, when my hip started aching, this here cart worked as a walker, holding me up when I needed it.
On Sunday when my preacher spoke about being mindful of the blessings in our lives, I thought of my shopping cart. It had carried so much. Took the burdens I couldn’t always carry. I darn near had a tear in my eye right there in the pew. I guarantee I was the only one in the congregation thinking about my shopping cart. But I’m telling you, it kept me company, kept me mobile, and helped me help others. It saved my life.
So, let me ask you this, what are your blessings? You can tell me, the shopping cart lady. I won’t laugh no matter what you say…you can count on that.
[vc_separator type=”normal” position=”center” color=”#000000″ border_style=”solid” width=”” thickness=”1.5″ up=”” down=””]
Postcard Stories Podcast – An Author Reading.
[vc_separator type=”normal” position=”center” color=”#000000″ border_style=”solid” width=”” thickness=”1.5″ up=”” down=””]
6 Replies to “Life of a Shopping Cart”
Brilliant! Love it
Thanks, Marc!
It’s interesting what brings to mind one’s need to reflect on our blessings. As usual, you’ve found the perfect way around to slap me upside the head! Yes, so very many things to be thankful for and thank you for this amazing reminder!
Aw, thanks, Michelle! I have felt the need to remind myself to count my blessings more and more as I get older. I’m working on it becoming a habit…a good habit.
Dear shopping cart lady. I used to get annoyed by shopping carts. They were always strewn around the grocery store parking lots or left along the sidewalk. I don’t see that any more. Not since the virus.
Now, shopping carts are wiped down and sterilized and treated as a humbled apparatus.
Just like your shopping cart was.
Dear Mary, I always wondered why people treated those carts with so little respect. Exactly as you say, strewn about and left in the hot desert sun until they were too hot to touch. It is nice to see them cleaned up and handed out with a bit of reverence. Now if only we could start treating each other as good…
Word of the Year-2025
For my 2025 word of the year, I chose COURAGE. I know, it’s not the most original pick—but hear me out. Something about courage stuck with me this time, especially after watching a documentary on The Tragically Hip. For those unfamiliar, they’re kind of a Canadian thing. A band that
Hinterland is Real
They say seeing is believing. I didn’t know what that meant until that night. I was coming home late, later than I should, and I knew I was going to catch heck. Momma didn’t even pretend to be patient when me or my sister wasn’t home in time for dinner.
Deadly Mist
The mist crept closer, slithering across the boot prints she left behind on the soft, moist ground. She urged her legs to go faster over the uneven path. A leafless tree grabbed at the flying strands of her long silver hair as she ran past. They hung like shiny tinsel