On a recent trip to a nephew’s wedding my wife and I took the slow road (US 421) from Greensburg, IN to Midway, KY. Around noon, we came to the small town of Osgood, IN. Osgood has a rail line running through the heart of downtown and a good-sized post office one block west of the highway.
We could have ordered lunch at Trackside Pizza (hidden behind the statue’s shoulder), but we had packed a lunch. We found this little park with a single unoccupied bench. The sun had come out so we enjoyed a first stop on an enjoyable day, a far cry from the Interstate pace.
This statue was placed three years ago by the town leaders. That was the year Indiana celebrated 200 years of statehood (1816-2016). Here is the stone that marked the occasion.
A unique expression of Hoosier pride by some good-hearted and good-humored folks ended up brightening the day three years later for a hungry couple from another county an hour north.
We then noticed this plaque commemorating the generosity and labor of Osgood citizens 33 years ago. We were sitting on a sunny bench eating our sandwiches because Dr. and Mrs. Row and others thought it would help the world to turn that corner into a park. I know that it helped my world that day.
On that Saturday, my story crossed over into their story and vice versa. Maybe all our stories are connected somehow by a far wiser hand who persists in writing good chapters into the world. We never can tell the difference our decisions will make down the road, for good or ill. I will never know the full story of what went into that park’s construction and those people would never know the impact of their actions on us. I just know that I felt a little more gratitude for life than I had before driving into Osgood that Saturday.
It encourages me to think that what I decide to give myself to these days might result in a helpful stopping point for another traveler, maybe as far away as 2052.