Making old wrongs right

I was born in Ogallala, Nebraska, which was the end of the old Texas Cattle Trail. Hundreds of thousands of cattle were driven from Texas to Ogallala. Some went up into the Sandhills, while many were driven on west into the mountains. When I was born, Ogallala had a population of about 3,000 to 4,000 people, which is about the same today. Mom and Dad lived about 45 miles north of Ogallala on a ranch 7 miles north of Arthur, Nebraska. Arthur was a small town of about 175 people back then, and it's even smaller today. At that time there were I believe two grocery stores, one meat processor, two garages, a well service that drilled wells and one or two feed stores that had feed for cattle and chickens and rabbits and such.

One grocery store was pretty nice, and one was rather run down. Justin's store was pretty dilapidated. He didn't have a lot of stuff, and it was probably expensive. The front counter, I believe, was an old pop cooler that held water and kept the pop cold. I believe northerners call it pop, and the southern folks call it soda. Old Justin would sit behind the counter and hardly ever ventured out from his favorite spot. Many times when you stopped to shop he was sound asleep so you'd have to wake him up to pay, and it wasn't long before he'd be snoozing again. Old Justin was way up in years.

Some of us kids would sneak in as quiet as we could and snitch some candy off the counter or even back behind the counter and then sneak out. It was a kind of game to see who could sneak in and then walk out with some goodies. I knew it was wrong. Mom and Dad had dealt with Mick and I before this on stealing, but it was kind of exciting sneaking in and stealing. I never stole a lot. I was scared to death that I'd get caught, and then I'd have to deal with Mom and Dad.

Life went on, and I graduated from High School and journeyed off with some classmates to McCook Junior College. From McCook, I journeyed to Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska. I enjoyed the two years in McCook and I enjoyed the two yeas at Chadron. It was here in Chadron I met Marge and asked her to marry me, and that following fall we got hitched. We then spent several years working for a cattle ranch southwest of Arthur.

It was while we were working on this cattle ranch that I got to thinking about stealing the candy from old Justin. At first it was easy to dismiss and forget, but as time went by the times I stole from Justin began to wear on my conscience. After it had worn on me for a while, I decided I'd had enough of this so we made a trip into Arthur, and I met Justin out in the middle of main street in Arthur. I told Justin what I'd done, paid him back way more then I'd stole, told him I was sorry and asked old Justin if he'd forgive me. Old Justin was flabbergasted. He accepted my apology, but he tried to refuse the money. I insisted. We shook hands and settled the matter.

I walked away with a clear conscience. There was nothing there that was weighing my conscience down. It was free. I had swallowed my pride and done what was needed. I needed to talk to Justin and make it right. It felt good.

Turning old forgotten wrongs right has worked down through the ages. There are times though when confessing our wrongdoing and making it right will really create more problems than it's worth. But there are times when we need to go to the wronged individual and apologize and seek forgiveness and make it right. Not easy, or should I say, never easy. But it's good for the soul!

It's a flat miracle how simply saying "I'm sorry; Forgive me" can make a difference in one's life and the lives of those around you!