Lessons Learned
Time 2
Twenty
four hours. A gift to have and a gift to give. She had end stage cancer. Although
she had battled cancer twice before and won, this time was different and she
was very tired. She was a mentor, a role-model, a light in the darkness, an
endless giver, a perpetual hugger, a tireless servant, a champion for the
voiceless, a babysitter for my boys, and a dear, dear change-your-life kind of
friend. She was the person who, when she entered a room, all in the room were
made better simply by her quiet, loving presence. She, in her vivid and
brilliant imagination, constructed programs to serve those in greatest need in
our community and then somehow managed to graciously sidestep the voluminous
red tape of well-meaning committees and enact her loving programs, always
serving up smiles, hugs, and assistance. She danced ballet. She painted
beautiful pictures. She basked in God’s glorious creation all around her. She
fiercely loved her family and her neighbors. She loved. She lived. And in her
living and loving she taught us lessons of infinite and eternal importance
without ever writing a lesson plan. She
poured more life and living into her short years, than most people do in ten
lifetimes. When the end was near and exhaustion was mercilessly gaining, her
husband called and asked if I had a few minutes to visit with her. Dropping everything at the tiniest chance to
give to this matchless giver, I raced over. He said she was tired and that a
few minutes would be all she could muster.
Whatever she wanted. Whatever she needed. So we talked and talked and
laughed and reminisced and before long, she asked her husband for an old photo
album which together we wandered through with waves of emotion swinging from
giggles to tears. It was precious, precious time. A deep and lasting gift from
her which I will forever cherish. We
shared time, the priceless treasure. The gift had nothing to do with the right
most eloquent words to say or the
loveliest purchased present; to be sure, and any thought to any of those would
have diminished the true gift which was simply shared, treasured, beautiful
time. A perfect time that I was blessed
forever to share. Time. She passed and
left the world much more beautiful than she found it. To be continued…
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