Earthworms, those slimy creatures that come out of the ground after a refreshing summer rain, taught me a valuable lesson.

  Living on the farm the boys were able to run in and out of the house all day. Between meals they would play with their toy tractors and trucks out in the gravel, or swim in the little turtle pool in the front yard. Bryan would play until he could hitch a ride in a tractor, leaving Adam and Preston to their own devices.

Hawley Family 1980

My days were spent on typical things like cooking, cleaning, hanging out laundry to dry on the clothesline, and keeping an eye on the boys as they were five and younger.

Worm

Adam, the 3 1/2 year old, loved being outside. In the dead of winter we would spend ten minutes bundling him up just so he could step outside for maybe all of five minutes. But those five minutes refreshed that little soul.
On this particular summer day, I heard Adam come in the front door, letting it slam behind him. I was cleaning the bathroom and I could tell he was excited by his “Mom! Mom! See my new pet!”

In his dirty little clenched fist was an earthworm. He stretched it out and said “See how big he gets?” Adam was so pleased with his find, and delighted in showing me several times how big the worm stretched out to.I said all the mom things like “well look at that, oh he is a big one! Where did you find him? What are you going to name him?” Worm was to be his name.

Adam announced they were going back outside to play, so he left the bathroom and headed to the front door. Instead of hearing the door open, I heard this: “Worm, move. Move Worm!” Then again, and this time my little boy was panicked, so I went to him and I knew with one quick look that Worm was gone.

I pulled him onto my lap and Adam and I talked about how maybe the worm had been stretched one too many times. Worms don’t have bones so if he decided to have another worm, he would need to be more careful. I said that I was sorry about his pet. We hugged, he shed a couple of tears, and then took Worm out to bury him.

The Lesson

Honestly, I didn’t think much more of it that day. But that night when I tucked Adam into bed, he gave me a big hug and said “Thank you for caring about Worm.” In teaching a lesson, I’d learned one of my own.

Something I had dismissed, had meant a great deal to that tow headed little boy.

So, the lesson I learned was this: The small things matter. A word. A hug. A kind gesture. Listening. Because we don’t know what the important things are to everyone, we must be conscious of the small things that we can do every day for others. In our families, our lives, and in our businesses, the small things matter.

A big city business with a small town feel

At Ink Images Custom Apparel, we bring the small town get to know your neighbor feel to each customer we work with. Your thoughts and how you visualize your apparel are important, and we will do everything we can to give you that final product. Because of Worm, we listen and remember that the small things matter.

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