Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘Angels’

AN UN-ORDINARY DAY

The day began normally enough, except I overslept. In fact I arose an hour later than normal which put everything behind. I didn’t mind too much when I saw the outside temperature was in the teens. Robin didn’t want to get up either. If I’m honest, I didn’t push her. We finally went outside to SUNSHINE two hours later than normal.

I opened my bible to Sirach 23:19. “Gorge not yourself, lest you give offense.” No problem, I planned to eat breakfast at home. And God must have laughed. When my husband got up, (late also), he invited me out to breakfast saying that he would pay. Coat on! Let’s go!

And so began a not ordinary day. We frequent a restaurant where my husband LOVES their biscuits and gravy. The woman who is normally found at the cash register looked horrible. I soon learned why. Her 39 year old son died in January from a heart attack. Thankfully except for miscarriages, I haven’t had that experience but I can imagine that it would be extremely hard to lose a child – no matter the age. As a parent, we are supposed to outlive our children.

I really didn’t know what to say other than the normal “I’m so sorry.” EXCEPT — “I walk to a different drummer.” I had to tell her a very short story of “Pap and The Pancake Turner.” She said it helped. She was in my vision at the booth we sat at and she looked very unwell. I thought of printing a copy of the story for her. One thought lead to another. I decided I would give her a copy of my book: Journey With Me. It is a grouping of stories that have made me AWARE of interactions of “my friends in high places” with me.

Needless to say, we returned home so I could get book and sign and deliver. Next stop on my un-ordinary day — we stopped at AT&T to get a smart phone for my husband. He has wanted one for a very long time and it seemed like a good birthday present. Ordinary day EXCEPT a young man was training in the store. I have no idea how old he was — young but I’m not a good judge of age. What I knew for sure was that he was VERY OVERWEIGHT. I tried very hard to KEEP MY BIG MOUTH SHUT. It didn’t happen! I apologized but I had to share my experience of the morning. I mentioned that I walk to a different drummer and since he was there, he must have some friend in high places that wanted me to pass on the message.

Another un-ordinary day!

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HIDDEN TREASURES

I thought the appropriate title for this thought ramble was BURIED TREASURE. Oops, I already have one of that title. This title is just as appropriate. It just dawned on me that the anniversary of the fire is in a week. Both my mother and my brother passed over, I would have also except I guess I needed to stay here for my father.

“My friends in high places” are very good at what they do. A whole day can go by and I don’t become aware of their help. One day this week, I PLANNED to exercise — I changed into exercising clothes and put the dvd on the TV. Robin came downstairs, wanting to go out. I tried to get her up early, so we could go for a walk. She ignored me. I have to admit that she got me up at 5:00 AM, went outside, did her business and returned to the top of the porch. The pond of water on the sidewalk had turned to ICE. At 9:00, the pond of water was covered by snow. The snow seemed to be gritty, I thought if I was careful I could take her for a walk. Exercise plans went on hold. I put on my boots, hoping that their traction would keep me upright. I found a penny on our walk. “In God We Trust” it reminded me.

When we came back, it was too late to do the exercise that I planned. I did a fast Tai Chi and continued with the day. I had planned to make soup. I’ll admit that I didn’t follow the recipe, but the results were delicious. Of course, neither my husband nor my son wanted to try it.

Trying to salvage the day, I examined the contents of the drawer that holds our check books. I had many, many check registers and many, many unused deposit slips. I didn’t want to put the check registers back in the drawer. They moved to the filing cabinet, except there was no room. I had to pull out a handful of assorted paper. Looking at it, I have no idea why it was in the filing cabinet until I came across a couple of gems. I found the notice of a good friend of mine that passed away in 2003 at the age of 97. She is still often in my thoughts. I also found a letter from a friend of mine with a comic strip that gave me a good laugh. The person in the comic strip joined shopping anonymous and when she was tempted to go shopping, she call me and we went out to drink. I have to admit that I phoned my friend and arranged for a shopping trip.

Now I’ll admit that I realized that “helping hands” had influenced the day. I could detail the many things that have occurred this week, but I’ll try to keep this ramble on the short side. I was scammed this morning by a friend on the I-pad — only it wasn’t her. I asked a couple of personal questions that only she would have had the answer too and the person disappeared. I didn’t fall for the promised money. This afternoon, the mail brought prescriptions for my husband that I hadn’t ordered. One he would need in the near future — the rest, I’m puzzled. Knock knock — is anyone home? That is when I realized that an important anniversary is close.

THANKS EVERYONE.

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HIDDEN

Changing calendars, copying important notes (passwords), getting ready for 2017 — I stumbled on two things. First — I saw a lovely picture of my young mother. Sadly she passed over when I was four — I never got to know her. Relatives have told me that I’m like my mother in many ways. I’m sure some of the things I have copied were good. I never found a mother substitute either. My mother remained hidden in the background of my life until my father left me a message that he was fine — on the other side. Of course, I didn’t put one and one together to make two. My father was fine, I didn’t think about my mother or brother or others.

Before my father passed, I visited the cemetery, Queen Of Angels on Wolf Rd. Miraculous things were happening there. People were taking pictures of heaven, rosaries where turning to gold and other unexplained happenings. I visited on more than one occasion — by myself and with a friend. On one occasion my rosary turned to gold (it still is) and the scent of roses filled the air. For the longest time I couldn’t remember the name of the cemetery. I also had trouble remembering the name of the church were I went to Mass in the country. I referred to it as the church in the name of the town. When my husband and I took a trip to South Dakota — the cathedral a short block from our hotel had the same name as the church in the little town. Could I remember? NO! The names where blocked until after my father passed over. Was my mother trying to remain hidden? Now I don’t think that she is the same person as our blessed mother BUT she does share the same name — MARIA! The name in the church in the little town is Our Lady Of Perpetual Help. The cathedral in South Dakota shared the same name.

What brought this on, you may ask. When I saw her picture — I took the time to thank her for ALL the help she provides for me on a regular basis. Did it start when she passed over? I don’t know and does it matter. Sadly our world is in horrible shape. New Year — New TRADGEDIES — the body count grows. North Korea wants to develop a long range missile to target the United States. Isis continues its bloodshed. We will soon have a new president who wants to improve on our nuclear weapons as well as other things.

The second thing that brought this on is I stumbled across a thought ramble titled UNIVERESE WHISPERS. I wrote it in March of last year — a relative had recently passed over and my girls were in from out of town. I was feeling my age. I’m feeling my age TODAY. I told a friend (who is older than me) that I’m tired of feeling 90. She should have warned me.

Part of the thought ramble contained these sentences. “The universe starts with a whisper. If you don’t listen, the whisper turns into a massive holler.” Is our universe yelling? Is anybody paying attention?

Our universe needs our prayers! Hopefully there will be a world to leave to our children.

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AWARE

Depending on the season, “my friends in high places” may be more active. I’ve noticed more activity around birthday’s (mine and theirs), anniversaries of passing’s, Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Let’s not forget New Year’s Day. Hopefully you have gotten the idea. It really doesn’t matter what is going on. Either I need “help” and they are more than willing to lend a hand or they are moved by the “spirit” and like to play.

If I’m aware I catch onto what is going on. If I’m not, if I’m asleep, it might take a couple of actions before I wake up. Yesterday was an ABSOLUTLEY LOVELY DAY. For winter, the temperature was warmer than normal. I have to admit that I spent more time outside. Any “work” I had scheduled for the day disappeared. At the store, I bought a new issue of FIRST FOR WOMEN. My husband needed to get his driver’s license renewed which because of his age, entailed a driving test. I figured the magazine would make good reading while I waited.

I had looked at the schedule for TV programs and decided I would like to watch a cooking program on Vietnamese cuisine — I liked the chef. At the time of the broadcast, although it said it was Vietnamese Cooking, I watched a chef learn how Italian tomato sauce was made, then proceeded to show how to “put up” a jar of tomato sauce without additional ingredients. BACK IN THE DAY — I used to can tomato sauce. Although I still have all my canning equipment and jars — it has been many years since I have used them. Canning one pint of tomato sauce intrigued me. He followed that up with a guest who specializes in stress free cooking using fresh ingredients. Since my husband is diabetic, and I have sodium issues, healthy cooking is ALWAYS interesting to me. They gave her website but I haven’t had a chance to investigate it yet.

The new magazine came in handy. I read parts of it while I waited for my husband at the driver’s license bureau. Dr. Oz is suggesting that soup might play a big role in weight loss. (My yelling knees say I NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT.) He provide guidelines for the soup. While waiting INSIDE for my husband –(where it was warmer,) one of the clerks told her co-worker that her Doctor wants her to drink wine. When I took the opportunity to talk to her, she confirmed that BOTH her old doctor and her new doctor both had the same advice. (Red Wine is in my glass on a regular basis.)

We stopped at Target on the way home. I found myself at the display case for fresh vegetables. I really don’t know what I was looking for but I spied bagged stir fry vegetables marked down two dollars. Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, carrots already cut up — perfect for soup. On the way home I realized I needed more low sodium chicken broth. My husband was SO HAPPY that we needed to make another stop. Getting back in the car, I found a SHINY new penny and a shiny dime. “THANKS” was all I could say. One — Two — or more, does it matter?

The Election results — the violence in our world — all worry me. I’M VERY GLAD TO HAVE FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES. Daily prayers for our world, country and city — All I can do! What about you?

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TUESDAY

I would have thought it was a Monday — starting a new week — unexplained things happen. But it was TUESDAY — ALL DAY. It began when I was trying to go back to sleep, somewhere around 3:00 AM.
I don’t know if I was asleep or beginning to drift off. I SAW a man running through our back yard with a black mask on, wearing yellow stripes. He reminded me of a BEE? The sight woke me up — it took awhile before I realized that the alarm was on, the front and back gates to our house were locked. We were safe, no one was running through our yard. ??

I was still trying to sleep when I heard this repeating noise that kept getting louder. Car — I thought, but I got up to investigate. It was a good thing that I did. Our son left for work but forgot to turn off the alarm. It’s a Monday — masquerading as a Tuesday. I wash clothes on Monday, but the day before was too busy, so I was washing clothes. When I went to put the clothes in the dryer I found a balled up mess. Somehow, the string from my joggers caught under the fin and since it couldn’t move, it wrapped everything it came in contact with into a ball. I have washed many loads of clothes in this washing machine. I have washed many pants that had strings hanging and NEVER have I had that happen to me. It took awhile to unravel the ball.
New question — Did I want to go back to bed and start the day over?

The forecast promised a lovely day — temperatures in the 50’s and sun. My husband needs to renew his driver’s license. I thought it would be a lovely day to go downtown to the express facility. THEN I looked at the letter, actually read it and realized that going downtown would be a wasted effort. He had to take a driving test.

Okay — maybe it is Tuesday and I don’t need to go back to bed. When we went to the VA in November, I realized my husband had only one refill left for his insulin. My husband has both a doctor that is not affiliated with the veterans administration and one who is. The VA doctor has to prescribe the insulin order. I sent the VA doctor a message asking if he needed an appointment to get a refill. I received a return message from the VA doctor reminding us that she needed to be updated by the outside doctor when my husband had an appointment. I sent his outside doctor a copy of her message. It was still Tuesday — a lovely day and the doorbell rang. A UPS driver had a big box for my husband. The box contained 3 months of insulin refills. ?? I’m not sure how this occurred but “Thank You” is not a strong enough word.

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ENERGIZER BUNNY

I hate to admit it! I really hate to admit it but I’ve gotten OLD. Now I know that we have had an extremely busy couple of months. We were home a total of FOUR DAYS after we closed the camper for the winter. During that time I needed to put away all of the food that we didn’t eat during the summer, catch up on the mail, change summer clothes for winter and prepare for our next trip.

We were back home a total of five days before our grandchildren came for the weekend. The weekend was lovely — we took advantage of the good weather and went to the zoo. Next, after the kids went home –taking advantage of the good weather, I went to the Garden. Then we had a couple of back to back doctor visits. No rest for the weary!

Still switching clothes and getting ready for our granddaughter’s and great grand’s visit for Thanksgiving.
And COOKING in advance for the feast. Taking a break, getting off my feet — I watched a cooking show on Thanksgiving. Now I will admit that I have cooked turkey for many, many, many years. BUT I learned something new. The chef I watched recommended taking out the wishbone for easier cutting and removing the breast from the skeleton. I’ve deboned many chicken breasts so I TRIED IT! I couldn’t get the wishbone out BUT filleting the breast, cutting the meat when it was off the bone was EASY! I didn’t have to wrestle with the whole turkey. Hopefully I will remember this trick.

Granddaughter and great grand (3 years old) arrived. The visit was LOVELY — even Robin liked both of them. More family staying at the house — more out and about. I wanted some of the energy from the children. They DIDN’T SHARE! Our granddaughter had a bucket list of things she wanted to do. During the time span that they were in town I got more than 40,000 steps on my Fitbit. My daughter told me I was the energizer bunny — just keep going and going. She is right! I took more than 500 photos on my camera. Every day I prayed for ENERGY. The day that they were leaving we stopped at the Conservatory before heading for the airport. In the room that had a slide, a four year old girl was with her family. The two girls had a lovely time, the adults were able to enjoy their energy from ground level. I had to say “Thank You”. Now I know that many things just naturally occur in life, but I have had many years of receiving “help” from “my friends” and I DON’T TAKE that “help” for granted.

The “Grand’s are safely home and I’m charging my batteries. Oh, did you just say that Christmas is coming?

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COFFEE ON THE PORCH

The weatherman warned that the day would be the last 60 day temperature of the season. It was 60 degrees at 7:30 AM. I couldn’t resist. I put on a light jacket and heated a cup of coffee and spent a very relaxing 1/2 hour on the porch. I tried to meditate. It didn’t happen. Instead I watched a plane fly overhead, listened to the wind in the trees and a siren — ambulance or fire engine, I didn’t know. A large bird flew by — big sea gull or ??. In short I took a break from the day. I will admit that after a half hour passed, I made a cup of hot tea. I was chilled. 60 degrees, even with a light jacket was still not warm enough for me.

We all have different talents. Some people are very good cooks or comics or artists. Some people are very good at organizing, writing or planning. We all have our individual talents — the trick is to recognize them and use them well. One of my daughters is in the habit of having coffee with God. She tells Him her concerns and listens for advice. I storm heaven on a regular basis, problems and concerns personal to me or my concerns about the world or our country. I don’t hear with a voice in my ear, God’s response to me. But I know that I am listened to and often the answer will come through. If I’m paying attention.

Part of my heritage is Irish. Andrew Greeley, author, has referred to the Irish gift with the heroin Nuala Anne McGrail in many of his Irish novels. Does my gift come from my mother, who happens to be on the other side? I don’t think I will ever have the answer to that particular question and does it matter? My German grandmother’s birthday was on a Monday. I took Robin for a walk and met a friend of mine. I told her of the approaching gathering with my granddaughter and great grand. She had many items that would have made their visit easier. Although searching our house and talking to my daughter I learned I didn’t have to take advantage of her offer, I thanked my grandmother for her help.

Does it really matter where my gifts come from? Does it really matter if the gift is cooking, or writing or art? Does it really matter that I receive “help” from the other side. I recently picked up the book Waking Up In Heaven and read a few pages. I will admit that the book didn’t come home with me. I’m aware that many of my family, friends and four footed companions are on the other side. I’m also aware that I am seldom alone. I left the book for a person who really needs to read it.

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ALONE

The morning sunrise promised a beautiful day. The weatherman warned of an approaching front that would bring cool weather. We have been extremely fortunate — November and the temperature was still in the 60’s. We all knew that the summer weather couldn’t last, even though we were hoping it would. I asked my husband if he wanted to go to the Botanic Gardens, and I wasn’t at all surprised when he suggested I go by myself.

Since the Gardens is close to Lake Michigan, I knew the temperature might be cooler. I wore my hooded sweatshirt from Hawaii, topped with a yellow fleece vest. The vest had zipper pockets. I could travel without a purse, and still have room to safely carry my cell phone and wallet. Have camera, will travel! I was off.

Even though it was a beautiful day, the Garden wasn’t crowded. I parked closer, realizing that my knees might be problems on my return. The garden was already preparing for colder temperatures. The table in front that highlighted flowers was gone, but the front was ablaze with colorful purple mums. The entry arch’s were highlighted by yellow mums. The fountain in the lake was already off. I wondered about the waterfall. I was surprised by the roar of water. Looking for the source, I saw water bubbling up in the lagoon. Asking various garden workers, I learned they were emptying the fountains so the pipes wouldn’t freeze.

Although there weren’t as many blooming plants, I still found enough to catch my interest. Maybe I was paying more attention. At the camper, we had a plant with very interesting leaves. I bought it after the tornado, but if it had a name, I hadn’t written it down were I could find it. When we returned in October, the plant was covered with lovely daisies. At the garden that day, I learned the plant was Montauk Daisy, aster family, from Japan. One mystery solved.

Fall flowers were in bloom, Christmas lights were up and in some cases on. The leaves sported fall colors. I had plenty of opportunities to take pictures. The waterfall was still cascading down the hill. I stopped for awhile to enjoy the sound. I have to admit that I stopped more often than normal. My knees, although not screaming, were making their presence known. I’ll also admit, that I didn’t let them dictate my path — I walked my normal route — and the carillon bells were still ringing on the hour — although they were still on daylight saving time.

Crossing the bridge, I stopped to watch and photo a female mallard whose head was tucked under a wing as her feet continued to paddle. A tall gentleman was across the bridge standing near the waters edge with his camera focused. I wondered what he had found of interest. He showed me his photos and asked if he could take my picture. I now have two photos on my computer. The gentleman was from China, in our country 14 years. Chicago reminds him of home, it has the same four seasons.

I finally admitted I was hungry and headed for the cafe. They had a quinoa salad that I had been tempted to try. I bought a salad and picked up a plastic fork and a napkin, before heading outside. I found a table near the roaring water, put the salad, napkin and fork down before sitting down myself. THE NAPKIN AND FORK WERE GONE! WHERE? Not on the floor, not on a chair — not visible anywhere. I checked my pockets — empty. It wasn’t windy or even breezy — ?? I went back into the cafe to get another fork. I really don’t care for plastic utensils. There was a long line by the plastic utensils. I noticed they had metal silverware at another station. I’m STILL PERPLEXED! Where did they go? I was alone, wasn’t I?

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PACKING

I’ll admit it. I was worried. My knees have continued to give me problems. They were better — meaning I wasn’t in continuing pain. BUT .. and it was a BIG BUT — I had trouble getting out of the car after we had driven a distance. I was having trouble getting up from a chair, the toilet .. in other words my body wasn’t working as it had in the past. And we were planning to drive to Lookout Mountain, an 11 hour drive away. I didn’t think we would make it in one day. My husband probably could, I knew I COULD NOT! And I was afraid I WOULD NOT be able to get out of the car.

So I began packing for a short stay, including an overnight in a motel. I thought two bags would work out well. One for the extended stay, one for overnights. I forgot that in all of our recent travels, we were staying at places that already had some of our bathroom supplies — toothbrushes, paste, etc. Then I remembered our preferences for drinking and eating. Okay, the bags increased to three for me. My husband was on his own — not only his medicine but also his ham radios. Oh, then I had to add a cooler for his insulin. He remind me that he didn’t have a truck.

Just in case I would forget things, I had help from the other side. My knee hurt, more than usual. Remember the various creams and ointments to help with pain. I had trouble sleeping. REMEMBER TO TAKE SLEEPING AIDS. I was warm in every outfit I put on. I had packed the summer clothes away, putting out the winter wear. WHAT WAS THE EXPECTED TEMPERATURE? Summer 80’s was forecasted. Luckily I had tee shirts and clam diggers still out.

I don’t snack a lot, but while I was packing I was EXTREMELY hungry. Time to buy some snacks and
water for the car. I remembered my tea, my husbands sugar, peanut butter and jelly…. instant coffee and small bottles of wine. Apple cider vinegar was a challenge but I found small glass dressing or wine bottles. Crackers for munching. I was trying to stay with healthy options, so no chocolate.

As more challenges arose, I finally realized I was receiving HELP from the other side. Since we had only been home from the camper for four days before we left again. I will admit that I’M EXTREMLY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR HELP. I will also admit that I was frustrated when so many things were going wrong! My husband took into consideration my traveling concerns and we stopped often. My eyes were bothering me when we left so he did the driving. (He loves to drive!) My feet were also swollen, I brought sandals for the drive. I also wore my half compression socks, only going up past the ankle. Thankfully my knees behaved, the trip was less stressful than I had feared. I could get out of the car. Both of the motels were dog friendly, but Robin had stayed home. Their breakfasts were good, one better than the other. The weather was delightful, sunny skies — dry roads, good traffic. LOVELY TIME!

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MORNING WALK

Looking outside on our last Saturday morning in the country this Fall, I saw fog or rain or mist — definitely gray skies. Robin didn’t care, she was ready to go for a walk. Words of Wisdom in Queen of Heaven’s morning reading instructed “Allow yourself to belong to God.”

Not sure of the weather, I put on my rain coat and rain pants — heading for the street instead of taking the nature trail, turning East towards our daughter’s trailer. I saw one of our neighbors holding onto a large container with a hose, spraying his trees. I was curious — what was he spraying and why. I know fruit trees are sprayed in the spring to protect the fruit from bugs but why spray in the Fall? I soon learned he was spraying the trees to discourage the deer from consuming the leaves. Most of the leaves were missing from one of our young maples. So were the buds off of a flowering bush, not to mention our Hosta’s had made a tasty snack. He offered to let us use his container but I thought it would be to our advantage to get our own. Thankfully I bought the last deer/rabbit fence spray with hose at our hardware store.

I had taken our car to the hardware store, giving Robin a ride. Have car — will travel. I stopped at our neighbor’s to thank him for the information, his generous offer — we had the last container at the store. Leaving his place, I met our friend’s daughter and husband. When I inquired as to her parents plans for the weekend, I learned she really didn’t know. Her sister might drive them out to save their gas. I thought I would phone and invite them for supper if they were coming out. When we saw them last weekend –their truck was loaded to the top, stuff going home for the winter — preparation for Fall close. My husband thinks we NEED A TRUCK.

On the road again, I saw the truck of the person who does our winterizing. I asked Sue if she had called him. When I phoned her, on Friday, she hadn’t called, but when I saw John on Saturday — she was on his list. I mentioned we had keys to her trailer. He suggested that I get her keys and meet him at her trailer. He was working on Saturday because he was way behind. Sue had been having trouble with her door staying closed and he explained the steps she needed to take to keep the door locked. I told him that we would leave our furnace on when we left, he could schedule our winterizing when it was convenient for him.

Back at the camper, I phoned our friend only to learn they weren’t coming out. I’ve used up most of the meat in our freezer but I planned to go to the store if they would come for supper.

Definitely a DIRECTED morning. I’m very glad for the information received and the meeting of friends. I’m very glad we had walked the street rather than the trail.

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