SATURDAY STORY - FEBRUARY 27, 2021

 SATURDAY STORY - FEBRUARY 27, 2021

A work of fiction:

*****

Micah Pakowski was an above-average student at East View High School in Georgetown Texas.  Everybody LOVED Micah!! A bit on the tall side, about 6 feet 3 inches, brown hair and eyes, outgoing, and popular.  He played some basketball but wasn’t a starter.  But, he was definitely a team player.  He was a sparkplug in practice and on the bench cheering the team.  He was shy around the girls (and blushed way-too-easily).  (A few of the girls liked to tease Micah as they would come up and hug him - or say something to him, just to see him blush as red as a beet!!!)

In the Patriot Band, he was the first chair tenor saxophone player.  In the Patriot Jazz Band, when he got tenor sax solos, the girls in the audience swooned as he tickled their ears.

His grades were okay - not the top of the class, but in the upper 20%.  

He dated some - Kristy McLennon was kind of “his” girl, but they didn’t have any arrangements.  

He was the third (and last) child of Joe and Andrea Miller.  When one looked at Micah, they just ‘knew’  he was going to be something - the complete package.  A big kid, with a big heart, a big smile, gracious, funny, smart, athletic, musical, and (if you can believe it), humble.

He knew he wasn’t the captain of the football team (or basketball team), he wasn’t going to be the valedictorian, he might just make the scholastic honor society, but none-the-less, Micah Pakowski was a really likable guy!!!

From his youth, Micah knew he was going to college.  His dad, the manager of the McCoy building supply said “UT” means the University of Texas.  During the fall season, his dad wore burnt orange and UT gear.  Micah watched UT football games as if it was a religious service.  Dad generally had to work Saturdays, but at work, there was a TV with the game.  If they were lucky, Micah, his Dad (Jerry), and his older brother (Matt) would get tickets to a game.  They would sit in Darrell K. Royal stadium - probably in the nosebleed seats towards the top - and in the sun cheering the Longhorns to victory.  Like his dad, Micah learned to love burnt-orange and say “Hook ‘Em”!!

Matt was a better student than Micah, and seven years older had gone to the University of Texas and majored in Information Systems and had a great career with Deloitte as a Systems Analyst. His older sister, Beth was five years older and she had gone to the big rival, Texas A&M.  She was tentatively planning a medical career and A&M had strong health career majors.  Beth finished her four-year health science major and was starting in a  Veterinarian degree program.

 

Micah had applied to the University of Texas - but hadn’t made the cut as being in the top 20% of his class just wasn’t high enough.  He did get a strong SAT score that could have put him in, but he was happy just to go to the local community college.  

Since Micah was fifteen, he had worked summers and then some weekends at McCoy building materials.  He was strong, and with his boyish good looks, and his outgoing, friendly personality, he was well-liked and did a good job.  After his senior year of East View High School, he worked for Meyer’s Construction working on concrete jobs.  During the summers. Micah’s day might start at 6:30 as the cement mixers started rolling.  He helped build the forms for the thousands of houses being built in Williamson County.  He slipped on his wader boots and grabbed a long pole trowel to smooth the cement as it came out of the chute.  By 6:30 p.m. it was quitting time.  He made excellent money - which was going to his college funds.  

Micah was smart with his money.  Working construction, he wanted a pick-up truck but didn’t want to go into debt for a new one.  Shopping around, he found a ‘gently used’ ten-year-old truck that was a good price.  It was owned by an older friend of his dad who always had pickup trucks but now in his 70s didn’t need that big vehicle anymore and had gotten a little foreign car for the gas mileage.  He paid cash for the truck.  It didn’t get good gas mileage, but he was going from home to construction sites for some long days, so that was okay.

As summer moved along, Micah thought about his college classes.  If he was going to transfer to UT someday, he would need some general education classes.  On a rainy morning, when they weren’t going to pour cement, Micah went to Austin Community College in Round Rock and talked with a counselor.  He was trying to see if he could get his Freshman Composition, College Algebra, Introduction to Business, and Introduction to Information Technology in the mornings - and then he could still work in the afternoons with Meyer’s Construction.  Working with an advisor, he got Freshman Comp on Tuesday and Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:15; and Intro to Business also on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:45; and Algebra and IT on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 to 8:50 for Algebra and 9:00 to 9:50 for IT.  He could do his homework in the evenings (although he was generally bushed by then.)

*****

So, the fall semester started, and Micah worked close to 40 hours a week (with working Saturdays).  And, he did make all classes.  He was glad when sunset started to come earlier for doing his homework.  He was in bed by 8:30 most nights.  He was glad he was a good student.  He was also glad for the occasional rainy day when they didn’t pour concrete and he could catch up on his sleep and his homework.  Sundays were spent with church with his parents and homework in the afternoon.  He thought ‘hey, what else would a 19-year guy be doing with his life.

And, amazing enough, he got all A’s in his classes - and got a promotion at work.  An additional benefit was that Micah got very proficient in spoken Spanish as many of the crew were Spanish speakers.   

The spring semester was the same - almost full-time work, four college classes, and all A grades.  Then came the hot Texas summer - no classes - but 6:30 to 6:30 work.  He was doing more supervisory jobs - directing the cement trucks and where to put the chute, where the cement spreaders were to smooth the poured mixture.  

Then a second year with Austin Community College 

As the second summer ended, Micah had some decisions to make.  He had 48 college credits (and all A grades), and he could transfer into the University of Texas - but that wouldn't work well with his work. 

Micah called his grandfather, Jesse, who he really appreciated his candor and insights.  On a Sunday in August Micah met with his grandpa.  

Jesse and Micah talked for a long time before 

"Okay" started Micah.  "I'm torn between quitting my job and going to college and getting my degree, or not going to college and just working."

They talked about the issue back and forth - the future seemed to be based on Micah getting a college degree.  

Jesse reminded Micah that his dad, Jerry, had a college degree and had worked up into management at McCoy's Building Supplies.  "A degree can open doors for you - more doors for more management, more money, and less physical labor - such as smoothing cement.  

*****

Micah did go to the University of Texas that fall with a double major - business and management and engineering and construction.  His grandfather suggested that Micah should live in a dorm or an apartment (Micah selected the dorm, he wouldn’t have to cook).  During the summer and longer breaks, he still worked with the concrete crew on Meyer’s Construction.  

John Meyer watched Micah work - and encouraged Micah.  

One Saturday at the end of a hard week, the concrete crew went to a bar. Micah hadn’t ever drunk much alcohol.  He thought he would experiment that night.  He guessed it must have been a hit - but not for Micah - as he vomited even as far as dry heaves.  Not a good option.  

On Monday some of the guys tried to tease Micah.  He ignored them and kept working.  They didn’t invite him to go to the bar after that.

*****

Kristy McLennon had gone to Stanford for her college experience.  After her junior year (and Micah’s junior year), Micah had seen her across the church from his family one Sunday.  They hit it off and dated a few times that summer.  But, back at UT for his senior year, and Kristy’s senior year at Stanford, she had been swept off her feet by a man at Stanford.  There were some girls in Micah’s business classes, but very few in the engineering management classes. He was still shy.  Jasmine Johnson, a black engineering management major, tried to befriend Micah and they shared coffee and studied together, but like the other dating he had done, it just wasn't to be”.  

After graduation, Micah went back to work with Meyer’s Construction - but now as a junior manager.  He worked on and got a certification in project management.  Soon, John Meyer was letting Micah do the estimations on jobs - and Micah was generally closer than John had been.

One small job, Micah estimated too low, and of course, Meyer’s Construction got the bid.  Soon, afterward, when he had realized his mistake in the estimation, Micah approached John with the news.  Micah volunteered to take the extra costs out of his salary.  It was a great learning experience for Micah, although it cost him some money and ego.  

John Meyer’s realized that Micah was good - and probably could work for a regional firm.  He passed the word on to three of the larger companies in the area, and Micah settled for engineering - which had a focus on medical engineering.  John Quinto made Micah a great offer and he started as a junior manager and project estimation expert.  Within a year, he had become one of the two main managers on the Seton Healthcare facility in Waco.  He was a hands-on manager - and quickly earned the respect of his crew.  (And, Micah a few times got down in the trenches and spread concrete).

But, there was still something missing in Micah’s life.  By his age (29) most men had married and had families - but not Micah.  He wasn’t gay, he loved his job and his work, but there was a very tiny spot in his heart for more.  

By now, his grandpa Jesse was older and in an assisted living facility with his wife Beth (short for Elizabeth).  Micah spent Labor Day weekend with his grandpa and discussed many things - but they still couldn’t quite put their joint brains on what was in Micah’s head.  

*****

It was both a scary and very realistic dream that Micah ever had.  

The next morning, grandpa Jesse called Micah and said he had the weirdest dream - and could Micah come to visit on Sunday.

Micah arrived on Saturday night and slept on a futon in his grandparent's apartment in the Golden Generation assisted living facility.  Jesse said, “Micah, after church tomorrow, you and I are going to talk”.  That sounded both exciting and ominous to Micah.

Over coffee, that soon got cold as the two were getting deeper and the coffee just sat.  

Jesse started “Micah, I had a dream last week that you were helping so many people.  There were some buildings and lots of love.”  Jesse stopped before going on too far.

Micah didn’t want to sound like he was crazy.  “Grandpa”, he said, “that seems to be similar to my dream.  I was speaking in Spanish and there was a building being built.  It could have been a hospital, but it seemed like a church.”

That excited Jesse “who blurted in.  YES - a church.”

That hit Micah hard - oh no - and oh yes.  It wasn’t a dream but a vision, a premonition, a calling.  

Micah spoke slowly “I might be called to be a priest”.

*****

End of story

While there were many callings at a minister or social worker, in this story, I wanted Micah to remain celibate - which might fit into a Catholic calling.  

For many of us, we started out in our jobs - and then something happened. In my class it was a subtle shift that was also a significant shift - to move from high school teaching to college teaching - hey they are both in teaching.  But, college teaching involved more - research, writing, getting involved in the academic field.  

Pollyanna Karen would want to add that Micah became an outstanding clergyman, worked well with Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other backgrounds. He espoused that LOVE WINS. (But, of course, this is a story!!!)

And, LOVE DOES WIN

HUGS!!

Karen