Snowy Day

SNOWY DAY is the title of a children's book - by Ezra somebody...award winner. The title is the only thing the book and the blog post have in common!

But I have stayed inside most of the day, sorting items for the March APL Upscale Sale. It's best to get an early start or I'll miss the event altogether. Sorting includes going through the end of the photo boxes my mother had stored, bless her heart. Where did she keep all this STUFF?

Needless to say, amidst the tossing of her 8th grade spelling bee award, her English themes from high school, the sample of my dad's baby hair, their honeymoon pictures and post cards, I have been down memory lane.

It occurs to me that my parents really are gone. I can't ask any questions again about who is who or where something was taken or what is the story behind this or that thing. Hmmm. It's been a month since my mom died and what is said about losing someone is true - after everything settles down the loss becomes real for those left behind. Ed and I still think we should figure out who is going to visit her on what days!

Just the same it is fun to go through these items one last time. As I sort I am tossing and selecting those which need to be sent to relatives. I thought I'd sent all I had once but alas, such is not the case. So there's a second mailing to go out someday soon. I take a break now and then to pick STUFF that can go into the sale. Some of the old frames, a plate picked up while on vacation. The curling iron that was heated on the gas stove stays. So does the key to the old house. So do some treasured photos. So do the echoing laughs and other memories.




At my grandmother's 80th birthday party - just about the whole family on my dad's side was there. I was almost 8 or 9 I think.




My favorite cousins on my mom's side were these two guys who clearly had some mixed ideas about what we were playing...was it Cowboys and Indians and one thought Cowboys meant football Cowboys? Who knows. I just went along with it...not so much anymore though!

Angels Among Us

My mom is in a nursing home.
What a way to reach the end. I have said that.
We visited today. Mornings are best.
We were wheeling her from therapy to her room, for a visit, when we passed a small gathering room with 3 residents and 3 visitors in it. One person had a guitar and was singing. We chose to go there instead.
It was nothing less than a miraculous experience. The guitar player had an easy-listening folksy voice. She knew the 3 residents well. Clearly they were a long and well-established group. One of the other "outsiders" was with her and one with a resident.
We were welcomed without question.
We stayed an hour and hated to leave.
Jan, the musician, showed us not only that she has the makings of an angel in her voice, but also in her life.
One man, whose age is undetermined, had brain damage, probably from birth. He spoke well enough that she understood him. They joked a lot.
Another man, between 35-40, is now paralyzed from the chin down, doing all movements of his chair with his chin. She acknowledged his intellectual level honorably.
The third, Bubba, was also of an unknown age. He's probably younger than we'd think and we'd probably think that is unfortunate. He weighs 50 lbs. perhaps and is curled up - no speech, no communication capability that we observed. That is until we experience the jam session.
Jan told him long stories within a song she knew he'd recall, strumming her guitar all the time. Everyone else learned from her interaction with him as she reminded him of his friends, other song fests, visits in the room that is now for therapy.
We sang, "In The Garden" twice because my mom didn't remember the first time. We heard "Be Still" - I cried. We played kids' instruments to "Old MacDonald Had a Band", and so much more.
We came away realizing that God continues to amaze us. He took us into this room to be with people we pitied previously and He showed us how whole they are in His eyes by letting us see how whole they are in Jan's eyes.
There are angels among us.
Being in this home has been a blessing, whether my mom knows it or not. They are good to her. And, we believe God takes you home when your work is done. Her presence there may be nothing more than to open our eyes and hearts more. This may be her final gift. This may be how she is an angel among the other residents.
She may be leading us to really see all the others.
It was a humbling and memorable day.
Next time we go we an say "Hey Kenny", "Hi Gary" and "Howdy Bubba" with fresh eyes. People we thought were not whole truly are. People we felt sorry for really don't want us to feel that way.
There are angels. They are among us. Look for yourself. See.