Random Acts of "Kindness"

Archive for September, 2018

FLEXIBLE

I lost it. Where did it go? In the beginning of summer, I was able to WALK to Mass. It wasn’t exactly easy, painful knees were a problem but I was able to do it. Now walking a block is exhausting. Knees don’t hurt, but my right hamstring objects. Exercises that were easy are now either challenging or impossible.

I hurt my right hamstring at the beginning of July. The injury caused me to remain butt down and feet up for almost a month. We were in the country so I did minimal walking with Robin in the morning. I tried to continue with water exercise but I soon learned that I was doing more harm to my body than helping it.

I didn’t drive our car for over a month. When I did, I learned that using the automatic control hurt my body. I was able to drive manually, exercising my right leg. I was afraid to ride the scooter, afraid I would do more damage to my legs.

FIGHTING BACK — not at all happy with my limited ability. I started to drink a cup of bone broth every day, hoping it helps my various body parts. I have returned to doing Tai Chi EVERY DAY! I have also added 15 minutes of yoga along with the arm exercises I used to do.

I’m looking for improvement — ANYWHERE. The pain in my knees has diminished. My hamstring continues to be a challenge. Some days it behaves, others — the smallest step will cause pain. One of my daily exercises is for the hamstring.

Many of the exercises that were easy for me are no longer possible. If I get down on the floor, getting back up onto my feet is a challenge. Getting out of a chair or off the couch has also been a challenge. Recently I was able to rise from the couch unaided — improvement!

I’m being reminded that I need to improve my strength and my muscles. I have some DVD’s that are designed to help muscles. So far I haven’t been brave enough to try them.

In the city I have more stairs to climb. I’ll admit that I climb up and down the stairs more slowly. I also use the banisters or other handholds going into the basement. I don’t know if I NEED to use aids or the memory of falls makes me more cautious. In order to remain in our house I HAVE to be ABLE to do the stairs.

Step by step, day by day — I’m working to become more flexible.

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FIRE

I have to admit that I was puzzled. It was cool enough outside to make a meatloaf in the oven. After an hour, I didn’t smell meatloaf and opened the cold oven door. The flame had stopped sometime during the cooking process. I estimated about a half hour. My husband was able to light the pilot light, the oven regained 350 degrees and I finished cooking the meatloaf. The stove is old as our trailer, more than thirty years. What bothered me was gas escaping, the pilot light had gone out. My husband tried to figure out the cause — but our stove did not have automatic ignition. Too old. I phoned the person who repairs our trailer. As long as I didn’t use the oven, the pilot light stayed on.

My husband grilled a steak on our outside grill. We joined friends around their campfire. When we returned, I noticed heat coming from the grill. The gas had not been turned off.

Outside the temperature had risen, back into the seventies at night. Our furnace turned on TWICE during the night. Temperature on the thermostat was set at 70. Temperature in the camper was 80. ??
It was the weekend — our repairman was on a well deserved vacation. I vowed to call him on Monday.

Sunday night the light over our kitchen sink burned out. The number of fire — light appliances with problems was climbing. I’ll admit I was concerned. I’ll admit that I thought a message was trying to get through but I had NO IDEA what it was. We hadn’t been home much during the summer. I wondered if I needed to schedule a cleaning for our furnace at home.

After I called our repairman with the latest problem, we packed up to go home. My husband discovered a green frog on our bathroom wall. At first I thought it was one of our granddaughters toys until it moved. I was reminded — FROG — Full rely on God!

We stopped at an ice cream parlor on the way home. Since my husband was driving, I ordered a cherry ice cream soda and an order of French fries. I hadn’t had a cherry soda in years. I also ordered a chili dog and a chocolate shake for my husband. Carrying the tray out to their patio, the tray tilted — chili dog all over patio, ice cream soda all over the tray and me. Ops — WHAT A MESS! We cleaned up as best we could and I asked the people inside to run water on the patio to discourage the bees. Tiny bit of ice cream soda left — too sweet! My tastes have changed.

One of the first things I did when we reached home was call the furnace people and arrange for a cleaning.

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COMPANIONS

I have to admit that I don’t see them but I KNOW that I am seldom alone. Some times their activity is more noticeable. Early on a Sunday morning out in the country, I headed for the 8:00 Mass at St. Patrick’s. As I drove up a small hill, I saw figures on the road ahead. Slowing my speed, as I reached that spot, I saw 4 deer — two adults, two spotted fawns on the side of the road by the cornfield.

I enjoy the guitar music at St. Patrick’s, the songs are printed on loose leaf paper, assembled into a small booklet. The last time I was at Mass, I couldn’t find the song book. I looked over the shoulder of the woman in the front pew to sing the song. That morning I FOUND the booklet in the pew, hiding behind the official songbook. The pages were included for the beginning and ending songs — two songs, 14 and 16, offertory and communion, were missing. No one had a song book in the pew ahead of me, I didn’t know the songs. I couldn’t sing along, so I hummed the tune.

Acorns were already falling at the camper. The deck of our porch was already loaded, even though I had swept them off once before. Thankfully the roof of our deck protected us as they fell. As I pulled into the drive and turned off the car, two acorns banged onto the hood of our car with force. I decided that I needed to back up the car, out of the range of the acorns.

The events of the morning had already caught my attention. But I was surprised when I made a phone call to a friend. After our conversation, my cell phone rang, telling me I had a voice mail message. Calling voice mail, I listened to most of our recent conversation. I have NEVER had that happen before.

I decided that someone was “helping”, but who? I asked my husband to phone his brother — he has 4th stage lung cancer. His brother was fine, staying out of the heat in air conditioning but my husband learned something that I find very interesting. It might of answered my question. That Sunday was his father’s birthday. Where the two father’s having fun on my behalf?

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HELP

I receive “help” in my life on a daily basis. Most of it occurs without my noticing it. Sometimes it repeats itself on such a regular basis that I become aware. I often receive “help” when I’m writing. It began when I was writing To Pap, With Love. I DID NOT HAVE WRITING EXPERIENCE. I’m not a great typist — as a matter of fact, I almost FLUNKED typing in high school. “what do you mean I can’t look at the keys?”
Thankfully we now have computers, that help with spelling errors. Computers were not in regular use when my father was alive. It didn’t take him long on the other side to learn how to manipulate the system. I don’t know how else to describe it. The day of my father’s wake, at work, my sons computers made such a mess he gave up and came home. Our future son-in-law, hoping to work on a school project, also gave up when the computers locked.

When I wrote my first book, sentences disappeared as they were eaten by the yellow figure on a packman game. The printer jammed. One chapter stopped printing whenever it reached our granddaughters communion party. That “help” occurred often when I was writing that book. It continued when I wrote the various stories in Journey With Me.

Today I still receive “help” on a regular basis. For some reason it is IMPORTANT that I share thought rambles on a regular basis. Today I have brain fog. NO ideas were coming to mind. Thankfully I’m receiving “help”. Files are saved and the computer leaves the place where I’m working. I’m being reminded of long ago. My father passed over in 1995.

Evidently I NEED a lot of “help” because I’m ALWAYS on the receiving end. Some of the help is not exactly what I want. I don’t like to get hit on the head. Nor do I like the frozen cascade of food from the freezer. Thankfully the food has not been landing on my feet lately. Last year I always had compression stocking on my legs. This year I have enjoyed the freedom of going barefoot so most of the time my toes are not protected.

If my thought ramble is not of the quality that is accepted, it won’t save. Or as in time gone by, the sentences unravel. I’m mentioning this because so many persons think the because time has passed, their friends on the other side don’t think of them — I wish to share that years gone by on the other side don’t seem to make a difference.

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CHANCE MEETING

Looking back — my life has changed so much that it is hard to remember the time before my father passed over. I wrote that I have crossed a bridge, and I didn’t want to go back. Things that used to amaze me now seem normal. I hope that I never accept the happenings as common place. I hope that I always remember to say “thank you”!

I am often at the right place, at the right time to either help someone or be helped in return. Often I am delayed in order to accomplish the meeting. Recently, Robin’s leash was in my hand — we were going for a walk. EXCEPT — I saw a queen of heaven sprout in the yard. One sprout led to two which led to —–. Robin’s walk must have been delayed at least five minutes — maybe more.

Since we spend much of our summer in the country, I don’t see my neighbors in the city. I was in time to meet a neighbor, getting ready to fly to help her sister, who has cancer. Recently, in the country, I passed a couple looking for a parking place to attend an event. I shared information, parking available on the street down the road — parking places in the lots were filled.

At the event, the woman from the car asked me if I was a friend of Connie? Thankfully she recognized me. She had information of our friend’s husband who had had a stroke. I had been phoning, without success.
Leaving the Camper on Thursday, I passed the same couple who has just arrived at the camper, stopping to check on their friend’s lot. She had current information for me, although recovering, our friend was having a rough time.

The chance meeting doesn’t always involve a person, sometimes it is a song or a story, a book or a program. Most of the time it is information that I either need or something that needs to be shared. Last year, my chance meeting was with two dogs. In the country, I saw a German shepherd and another dog out for a stroll without a person for company. An hour later, I met a man looking for the two dogs. I provided the little bit of information that I could. Later that day, my husband and I were heading into town. On the back road I spied the two dogs heading into town. We offered them a ride and took them back to the campground to reunite with their owner.

If you have read many of by thought rambles, you know that many unexplained occurrences happen in my life. I often don’t remember them but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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