Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of going back to school for kids is buying new school supplies. I well remember the madness in the aisles of Walmart each year during the two weeks before it was time for school to start. Between the kiddos and the parents, it approached complete bedlam at times. And each year, I would promise myself that we would start shopping for school supplies in June rather than August. And each year, I would find myself and my three children fighting our way through the crowds ... sometimes the night before they had to go back to school. While the buying school supplies at Walmart ordeal was bad enough, it was a walk in the park compared to the ultimate challenge of back-to-school shopping ... and nope, I'm not talking about clothes, though that would rank way up there in my list of "shoot me now" shopping adventures for sure. What I dreaded most of all was backpack shopping ... it was such a big deal to my children, but I totally dreaded it each year. It always seemed to take forever and involve several arguments over price or color or size or how it felt on their back or any number of things. Looking back now, that's one of those parenting times I wish I could do over, and if I could, I would be a ton more laid back about the whole backpack thing. I would have scheduled one day per child, taken a lawn chair and some snacks, parked myself in the backpack department and let them look as long as they wanted until they found the perfect backpack. I wouldn't have an opinion as to color or size or anything else, and I would have saved enough money throughout the year so that price wouldn't be an issue. You see, back then I didn't understand the importance of those backpacks to my kids, but now, now I have a whole different perspective about backpacks.
A couple of years ago, I was having a ton of diabetes-related issues, including biting the dust one evening when I was out walking with J.R. Before that evening, I never really thought about carrying my testing kit or snacks or glucose pills with me as I walked, but I certainly did after having to be scooped up off the ground and taken home by some friends. It didn't take me long to get in the habit of stuffing my pockets with the supplies I needed should my blood sugar take a dive again, but it also didn't take me long to decide that I needed to find a more efficient way to carry those items. So guess what I did? Yep, I went backpack shopping. And it took forever, and I stood in the sporting goods store arguing with myself over price or color or size or how it felt on my back or any number of things. I finally settled on a Camelbak, finding one that could hold all my stuff and had the added bonus of being a hydration backpack as well. Well ... I only walked once with the backpack bladder filled with water ... that's all it took for me to decide it was too heavy and that it would be easier to carry a water bottle instead. Once I removed the bladder, the backpack was perfect and for a long time, I wore it every single time I walked. But ... as my blood sugar stabilized, my independent spirit (some would call it stubbornness) came roaring back and I stopped wearing my backpack.
Now for those of you who are shaking your heads and pointing your fingers at me, today I started wearing my backpack again. Last Sunday morning, I was out walking with Ollie and I lost my balance and took a pretty good tumble on the trail ... a good enough tumble that there was blood and tears, and probably a little sweat mixed in, too. I'm going to spare you the whole story, but suffice it to say that I was very McGyver-ish in how I took care of myself and got home. I had walked out that morning without my phone, so I couldn't call anyone to help me ... in fact, the only thing I had on me was my garage door opener and my iPod. Everyone who knows me knows that it takes me a while to learn my lesson, though, so of course I've still been biking and walking all week without my backpack. This morning as I was biking, however, I started thinking about what I would do if one of my tires went flat and I was 10 miles away from home. The thought of having to push my bike all the way home was enough to cause me to head to Walmart and buy a mini air pump and some patches. When I got home and tried to decide where to attach the pump to my bike, I had one of those light bulb moments ... you know the kind ... the "well, duh" times in life when something you should have already known suddenly becomes crystal clear to you. I should just put this pump in my backpack, I thought as I stood in the garage looking at my bike. And some snacks, glucose pills, gauze and bandaids, and my Swiss army knife. Well, duh, duh, duh.
Tonight I went for a short bike ride ... with my backpack on. I had hopped on my bike and left the house without my iPod ... yeah, yeah, I know ... I'm going to have to put every single thing I need to take with me all together so I don't forget anything. Without music pounding in my ears, I was left to pedal along with only the sounds of the trail in my ears and the sound of my thoughts in my brain. I began to think about the importance of the pack on my back, and I began to think about the importance of covering each others' backs ... of looking out for each other, of holding each other accountable, of standing up for each other, of taking care of each other ... the importance of backing the pack. The backpack I wear is small in size but powerful in what it carries inside; the contents could literally save my life one day. I couldn't help but recognize the seemingly small things ... like a hug from a little child or a baby's fingers wrapped around mine or the smile of a resident at the retirement home or a phone call from a friend or someone in my family or the text message from a friend each Sunday morning encouraging me to come to church ... the seemingly small things that carry such power within them ... the seemingly small things that are saving my life every day, the small but so very powerful ways that others are covering my back at a time when I need it most.
My kids were right all those years ago, friends ... backpacks are a big deal ... a really, really, really big deal.
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