Week 5 Story: The Glue Factory

Another day at the glue factory. Tom woke up at the crack of dawn and kissed his wife goodbye. The factory was only a few miles from his quaint cottage, so most days he opted to walk. It was chiller than Tom had expected. Tom both liked and disliked his walk to work. The commute always gave Tom too time to think.

Tom didn't always work in a glue factory. He was top of his class in high school, landing him spots at all his dream universities. He packed up and moved 10,000 miles away from his family. He thrived in college. He was on track to become a architectural engineer and he had met his dream girl, Sue. At the end of his sophomore year of college, his father was in a terrible car accident. The accident stole his father away and left Tom completely broken. But, his family needed him. So, he left school and moved back home to take care of his siblings. 

Sue, the angel she was, didn't abandon Tom. Although she stayed back to finish her degree, she called him every night. After she graduated, they got married and moved into a apartment close to Tom's family. Tom had been working as a mechanic, but he had injured his back and needed to find somewhere else to work. Tom's friend had a connection at the old glue factory and within a month, Tom was an official glue man. 

Tom and Sue wanted to have a family, of course they did. All their friends had babies. It wasn't even that. They wanted bundle of joy that would brighten up their life. It wasn't that they weren't happy. They were. Something that Tom's father had passed on to Tom was his joy for life. Tom made the most of his factory job, always coming home to make Sue laugh or to spin her around the kitchen. When they'd found out they couldn't have children, Tom brought Sue home a golden puppy and then he built her the home she had always dreamed of. They loved that house, that puppy, and each other.

It had been almost 15 years since he started at the glue factory. As he walked home from the factory that day. Tom thought about everything that could have been his. He thought of a luxury office somewhere in New York and buying Sue pretty dresses and going to fancy dinner parties. But then he remembered all that he did have and he was grateful. Life didn't turn out like he planned, but that's okay. 

When he would retell this story over the next decade, Tom would forget certain details about what he thinking or what he was doing. He was walking home from his job at the glue factory like any other day.  But, as he crossed the railroad that day, he does remember hearing a wailing of some sort. And as he stopped atop of the tracks, he saw a small pink bundle. Tom's life got a little brighter that day and he owes it all to the glue factory.

Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee

Authors Note:

King Rishi was a farmer king. One day when he plowing the fields, he came upon a little bundle of joy. The beautiful baby girl would fill the hearts of the childless king and queen. They adored her from the very beginning, named her Sita, and raised her to be a princess. Tom and Sue were also childless, but I hope I showed that they were still grateful for what they had. I'd like to think that their grateful hearts brought them to their baby.

Keeping walking your glue factory path and don't forget to be grateful. It'll all be worth it in the end.  web source