Remember Gumby, the animated character from way back in the ’50s?

Gumby’s claim to fame was the ability to effortless stretch his green body. The green block of clay with the big eyes captured the attention of kids of all ages and went on to star in many stop-action animation films.

I remember how my young daughters were among the millions of kids who carried a Gumby around, talking to it and expanding their imaginations to make Gumby moves.

This week I found myself thinking about Gumby’s ability to stretch himself in several directions at one time.

Gumby would bend but not break.

I thought again about how in these trying times we’re all trying to be as versatile as Gumby as we stretch ourselves to accommodate new roles and situations.

When the situation seems impossible, and when I feel like I’m getting close to breaking, I model Gumby. I tell myself I may bend but I won’t break.

It works.

I can accommodate my thinking so I can get through yet another tough situation.

No matter how stoic one tries to be, there will be things that eat at your heart.

I must say I was fairly stoic when the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers were carrying away all the floodwater-damaged things from David’s house. As they picked up each piece of furniture and proclaimed it too damaged to keep, I was a bit numb and perhaps devoid of real feelings I was trying to contain. Piece by piece they carried the damaged furniture to the curb. Soon, that pile stretched from one end of our property to the other.

If I thought of the furniture as “just stuff” I was doing fine. But soon the huge pile attracted bargain hunting neighbors who went through the debris like they were digging for gold.

“Look at that stunning dining room set,” said one couple. They said they wanted it for their home, overlooking the flood damage.

Another woman pulled out a deep red antique chair from the pile and said she was going to sell it on Facebook. The chair belonged to my husband’s mother.

It made me realize why some charities didn’t want to accept any clothes or furniture from our area because they didn’t know which pieces were water damaged.

The woman said she was going to wash it down with vinegar then sell it.

David is a man of few words and doesn’t express much emotion, but I knew he was hurting.

It was when the gathering group of neighbors and bargain hunters were exclaiming about the high quality of the living room set that I was overcome with sadness. I had saved a long time and shopped for years before I found that living room set of my dreams.

David wanted to keep it, saying no one would notice the water damage. Those who knew better cautioned against it and I reluctantly had to listen.

But there they were, pulling some of the pieces to their cars.

I gave some individual pieces like our collection of pieces from Italy and Israel to a favorite neighbor. We had no room for it in our small home that has to take in too much stuff. Every room in my house is now overcrowded. But it did gladden my heart to see how happy the neighbor was to have it for her home.

While I wanted to find a new home for pieces we could no longer use, it was still off-putting when the bargain hunters keep pulling things from our trash pile.

After a while, I, too, was Gumby, able to focus in a new direction. I need to bend but not break.

Thirty years ago I wrote a column about a Gumby approach to changing roles.

I pointed out how we go through many changes in life.

We go from lovingly rocking our babies to parents having to learn to let go as their kids leave home. That’s always something that takes getting used to.

Then, if we are blessed, we go through a most happy time when we get to be grandparents. As I read through a few old columns about my joy in having my grandkids, it was clear I realized it was a precious time in life.

Even back then when the grandkids were small, I knew my time with them would be all too short.

Different ages, different stages.

Some short, some long.

Some happy, some trying.

Each stage takes some degree of adjusting. And, yes, sometimes we have to be like Gumby and stretch our flexibility. We have to bend to changing circumstances. And most of all, do it without breaking.

But it’s all part of this wonderful gift we call life.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcastnet