It has been said that the way to secure a relationship is for it to be a 50/50 partnership. That’s a lie! The only way to have a great relationship with anyone is for both parties to give 100%.
Lake Powell Larry
A few years ago we were vacationing at Lake Powell with my family and friends. If you have never been to Lake Powell – please put it on your list of things to do. Boating there is unlike boating anywhere else on earth. It is breath-takingly beautiful. If you don’t have a boat, go camp there, and rent a houseboat or wave runners. The rental fees are well worth the fun your family will have camping on the beach and playing in the water. I promise it will be one of your best memories later in life. While I had a lot of fun on my vacation – I also had an adventure that was not so pleasant. I will relate the incident below in an attempt to illustrate a point.One night, upon our return from our trip upstream to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, a storm began to brew. We were feeling quite blessed that our boat was able to skirt the storm on our 25 mile trip back to camp and that the brunt of the lightening and rain could be seen over the buttes to our north.
We had some heavy winds and waves but luckily no whitecaps to worry about. As we drew near our campsite, we noticed that one of our shade tarps had blown down and the tents were still up but flapping heavily in the wind. We hastily disembarked the boat, tied off the anchor lines and ran up the shore to secure our belongings better. Within 15 minutes, my daughter’s friend yelled – ‘did you forget to tie up the boat?’ My heart sank as I turned to see our beautiful cabin cruiser adrift some 150 feet offshore. The winds had blown so strong that both anchor stakes had pulled out of the ground and were now being towed behind the boat by the lines that had once held them securely to shore. My husband and I ran to the water’s edge. Ron dove in and tried to catch up to the drifting boat. Long –story– short – he did not catch it. He nearly drowned (literally) in his attempt since all of our life vest were onboard. The boat continue to drift faster than he could swim, and the waters had become extremely choppy in the wind. After Ron emerged from the lake, our friend, Will, ran through the thick sticker weeds the other side of the cove to a pontoon boat that we had noticed as we came in to camp. By now it was complete darkness. Luckily, we had left the fluorescent light on the radar wing of the boat turned on, so that boat was well lit and visible. However, finding someone else willing to go out after dark could be a daunting task. I said a silent prayer that the pontoon boat would help us before our boat crashed into the rocks on the other side of the cove. My prayer was answered as I heard the engine start a few moments later. The captain of the other vessel pulled alongside our boat and Will was able to come aboard and motor our boat safely back to shore. He and Ron re-anchored the stakes more securely this time. That night, after the wind died down, we all yelled a giant 'thank you' across the cove to the pontoon boat captain. The next morning, we figured a hike to our neighbor’s camp was well called for in order to express our thanks in person.Meet Lake Powell Larry. I call him that because I never got his last name. He is a wise retired army man and we spent about an hour just ‘sitting on the porch’ as Larry called it, and swapping stories and philosophies for life. When my husband offered Larry gas for his boat, he refused, saying that if he got paid, then his help was not a true good deed. Of course we argued against that saying that we were only offering $100 worth of gas whereas he saved thousands of dollars worth of equipment for us. He said ‘that’s what neighbors are for.’ ‘It doesn’t matter that we don’t know each other’s names or come from the same area of the country, we are all neighbors and we should help each other out when we can.’ By the time we all got off Larry’s boat and back to our own, we decided that was one of the best hours he had spent on our vacation. Visiting with Larry was like a trip to grandpa’s house. You have fun, enjoy some snacks and glean the wisdom of the ages.
I believe that we should be constantly looking for ways to serve our fellow man. By pausing to help a neighbor, we not only lift their spirit, we lift our own. Sometimes we even make a new friend. I don’t know that I will ever come across Lake Powell Larry in my travels again, but I will always remember his kindness and advice from that morning on the porch of his pontoon boat. His life has touched mine in a positive way and in turn, I hope that by sharing my story and his quote above, Lake Powell Larry has touched you as well. May his kindness live on through our good deeds to others.
