Waking this morning, many things are lost. On Tuesday, my friend, Summer Breeze, lost her husband before the sun had even risen. Her life has just taken a harsh detour on the path of widowhood. On Sunday, I ran into her at the local coffee shop.
“Bob’s sick. He’s in the hospital. I just saw him. He’s doing so much better. My daughter’s here.”
Without makeup or her beautiful church clothing, she showed all the signs of being consumed by a growing fog of disbelief. No matter how long one knows the time is near, there’s no preparation for the day it really arrives.
New widowhood stirs my memories of almost two years old. Cancer. Nothing to be done. No cure. No more time. The shock and awe of fatal illnesses. How lucky it was that VST and I had nine weeks to prepare. Sometimes, there isn’t any time at all. Such was the case with my friend’s husband. Here, and then, gone.
As a friend, there are so many things we can do to make things better. Listen. Hug. Bring food. Don’t bring food. Help with the dog. Do the dishes. Fold the laundry. Be the driver. So many things one needs at the worst moments in life. Summer Breeze is so lucky to have a loving church family to surround her with the help she needs right now. We are all there for her.
Another church angel is fighting an unimaginable war while praying for a miracle. We are all praying for her while she fights to keep her balance. Fearful and stressed out, she keeps her sense of humor while watching her health slip further and further away. Imprisoned physically and mentally, her spiritual health soars. She is a true child of God. There are so many things we can all be thankful for, even something as simple as memory. Somehow, through her darkest times, she finds ways to make others smile. Her new doctor is waiting to see her next week. We pray his knowledge and expertise will help bring her the miracle she so desperately needs. We need her happy and well. She is so loved.
My bestie CC is battling for her mom. A warrior she is. While her mom is trapped in the darkness of dementia, I’m seeing CC at her most fierce and best. She worries not about hurricanes, because SHE is the storm. The medical advocate. The daughter. The only person who can watch over her mother and make the right decisions. She is one tough cookie, battling through her own exhaustion on every level. Just when she thinks she can’t, she continues. All in the name of love. For over 40 years, we have been best friends. I’ve gained a new appreciation of her strength and loyalty.
Truckers are headed to battle for us. Losing their freedoms, they’ve had enough. We may lose out for a while, too. Yesterday, the old me would have loved to pack up the Jeep and join them for their first night in Williams, Arizona. Sadly, my rebel days have passed. The best I can do is pray the message remains peaceful while inspiring positive solutions. Hmmmm. Truckers. Mad Truckers. Truckers intent on putting a stranglehold on our capital. Hmmm. Probably not a peace inspiring situation unfolding before our eyes.
Finally, an attack. In 1977, I lived not far from Kiev when the entire region was the USSR. All the names are different now. Moldavia isn’t anymore, it’s Moldova. Kiev isn’t anymore, it’s Kyiv. The Ukraine was a beautiful place with rich soil capable of feeding her people along with natural resources like precious minerals and oil. Their people have made Ukraine a unique place in this world. Now, it’s the center of war. Man builds things. Man destroys them. Such a cycle. Such loss.
Today, with loss everywhere, I plan to unplug. Sometimes the world just spins too fast. Loss takes. Love, prayers, and peace replace.
I’ll be back next Monday. Until then, stay safe. Please prayer for Summer Breeze and CC. Please prayer for our truckers and their families. Send prayers for our leaders and our country. Pray for our soldiers and the men that guide them. The Ukraine. Our crazy world needs all the prayers we can send right now.
More next week.