Chapter 25

Believe it or not, but Ashlee spent the weekend with me. Her daughter came over with her boyfriend and we had a nice dinner then they all left. Sunday night when I went to bed alone in a room that had a very strong smell of sex. I enjoyed it very much and thoughts of Ashlee filled my head as I fell asleep.

Monday morning, the first day of the week where I was going to retire from working and get my bucket list done. It was also the day that John and Krystal's house was going to get redone and Julie arrived bright and early and we together stood in the living room and watched as they loaded up the truck and drove away. After they were out of site, Julie picked up her phone and called someone. The conversation was short. Moments later a truck arrived carrying a dumpster which was put in the drive and then three cargo vans arrived and about a half dozen guys jump out. Julie and I walk across the street with keys in hand and greeted the assembled group.

"Good morning guys. Thank you for participating in this surprise renovation. The family we are going to work on are John and Krystal Newtown and their three kids. John is a disabled veteran who has served his country and was injured in the first gulf war. He is disabled and not able to work so this work that we are doing for his benefit."

Everyone there was smiling and nodding their heads looking like they understood and eager. "This is Julie and she is in charge of this project. Listen to her and everyone is going to come out of this much better than before. Ok?" There was a general agreement among the men. "Now, each of you should have your assignments and know what needs to be done." More agreement among the men and finally, "Ok, Let me open the door and I'll let you get going with the construction."

I lead everyone to the house, unlocked the door and walked everyone inside. When I reached the top of the stairs and welcomed them in, I noticed that several people had shocked looks on their faces. They were surprised at what they saw and a little taken aback about the condition of the house. "This is it. Now, those of you tasked with kitchen, it is over there. Those of you tasked with furnace and A/C, it is downstairs and the rest of you have your assignments." I walked back downstairs and several men followed me. I went through the spare bedroom/family room and entered the utility room. "Ok guys, here you go. Make it perfect as I know that you can do." I got out of the way and the men looked things over talked among themselves and then went back out to their van and I went back upstairs to find Julie going over what needs to be done. I didn't want to interrupt her so I stood off to the side and watched as the kitchen team started taking things outside to the dumpster. Loads of pots and pans and door cabinets and cabinets, everything went outside.

"What's up?" Julie was done and now talking to me.

"Not much. I just wanted to check in with you before I went back to my house. Do you need anything from me?"

Julie looked around surveying the area, "No, I think I have everything in hand. But thanks for asking."

"Let me know if you need anything and I'll see you later."

"Bye."

With that, I walked out among the workers and headed back to my house. I didn't have much to do so when I got home I check my Facebook page to see what was going on. I also wanted to make sure that John and Krystal were ok. I couldn't stand it if they came home before the surprise was done. They reported that they had arrived at their resort across town and were checked in. They called me out saying thank you, which caught me off guard. I didn't know that they knew I was the one who arranged for the trip. Either way, it made my heart swell knowing that they knew it was me.

At the end of the day, Julie came over to get me and I follow her back across the street. The dumpster in the driveway was close to full. I couldn't believe it, but all of the carpet, the cabinets, the fridge, washer, the furnace and both the clothes washer and dryer and all of the furniture were all in the dumpster. When we walked inside, the carpet on the stairs was gone, the carpet upstairs was gone along with everything that was ever here. I walked into the kitchen, or should I say the place where a kitchen once stood. Needless to say, it was empty and I was impressed with the work that got done.

Julie had been following me all along and when I was done with my inspection she asked me, "what do you think?"

"What I think is that this is incredible. I never thought that we would have gotten this far along in just one day. I can't wait to see what is possible tomorrow." I was excited and I am sure that my excitement was plainly visible by my words and body language. "How did they manage to get all of this done so quickly?"

"You won't believe me if I told you."

"You are probably right. How is morale among the guys? Anything that I can do to keep them excited about the plan?"

She thought a minute, "No I think the fact that they are doing it for a veteran who was disabled in the first gulf war is enough for them. I was keeping my ear open and I heard them say numerous times that they wished they had been here earlier, no vet should have to live like this."

I nodded my head, with the health trouble that John has had, housework has been at the bottom of Krystal's list. They weren't total slobs, but without real money, the carpet hasn't been able to be cleaned when the kids or dogs make a mess so lack of care doomed their carpets.