Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘Angels’

MY PLANS

Would you like to laugh with me? My plans? I don’t know how often I make plans and God Laughs We had planned (?) to attend the exercise and nutritional class at the clinic –two weeks in a row. The first week, we received a phone call that the roofers were available to install the sky light in our roof. It had been back ordered for more than 3 weeks. The second Wednesday our car was in the garage and we were waiting for ADT to fix our carbon monoxide alarm that went off on Tuesday.

I had given myself a birthday present. I arranged to go shopping with my friend who fell and broke her hip in December. It was the first time she and I had wandered out alone since she fell. I was able to put her walker in the trunk. The waitress at our favorite restaurant not only remember us, she remembered what we ordered. We were able to get a motorized cart at Wal-Mart, finish shopping and get purchases and us safely back into the car. We proceeded to Wendy’s, where I got her walker out of the trunk. Returning, I put her walker back into the trunk only to discover the taillight on the fin of the trunk hanging in the breeze. That would never do. I did not have tape in the car. I could not push the light back onto its holders. My next stop was only a short distance away. They DID NOT HAVE TAPE, THEY DID NOT HAVE GLUE. I bought large band aids and taped the light to the fin. We asked my friend’s husband to bring tape down when I dropped her off. It wasn’t needed. I was afraid the city streets would cause the light to become detached from the electric. I didn’t tell her until I dropped her off that she was my birthday present. I was glad we went out. I discovered that I had the strength for the task at hand. We both had a MARVELOUS time. We will need to repeat before a long time passes.

Our car went to the garage the next day. Because the electric was still attached they were able to glue it into place rather than replace the part for a few hundred dollars.

We had planned to go to the country on Thursday. Thankfully we were able to proceed as planned. Evidently we were not supposed to go to the clinic on Wednesdays. Either it is no longer of benefit to us or we need to wait until our traveling is through.

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DECIDED

It was a beautiful morning at the camper — warm, gentle breeze — before a cold front dropped the temperature 20 degrees. During our morning walk, I would have continued further down the trail except I told my husband where we were going and DID NOT bring my cell phone. So Robin and I took the shorter trail and returned home. It was warm enough with a light jacket that I did Tai Chi on the deck. I planned to make a smoothie and sit out enjoying the sunshine. I planned to do Jane Fonda’s Strength DVD but opted to enjoy the sunshine instead.

I had just finished making my smoothie when my husband came back inside, with the chairs. Dark clouds covered the sun, the wind increased and the temperature dropped. I decided NOT to sit outside. I DECIDED to exercise like I had originally planned. OH REALLY! I laughed at the way I HAD DECIDED. Since I have spent many years reacting to “help from my friends”, I recognized an intervention.

I was glad that I picked the DVD, it might be more helpful than Aging Backwards. I am NOT at all pleased with my lose of strength. Getting up from the toilet, chair, floor — even the car has become more of a challenge. I picked the second workshop, and was able to do it. I decreased the weights, paying attention to my sore shoulder. My husband said it might benefit him, he would do it with me tomorrow. I have 5 lb weights he can use.

Last weekend was Fall Festival. I was reminded of all the many experiences I have had during the Festival over the years. In fact I told the story to someone I knew who had lost not only her mother but other family members this year. It was one of the first times when I realized that I am NEVER ALONE. The full story of how I was instrumental in saving my neighbor’s life is written in my book JOURNEY WITH ME. It is titled TRACKING TIME. I didn’t save any one’s life this year but I might have shared stories that was of help to others. We had a flea market but I didn’t spend any money — instead I conversed with many of my friends. I laughed that Sunday morning when I had turned on the television in time for the blessing from the Mass, prayer to St. Michael and song “Here I am Lord.” It is one of my favorites and I sang along. “I will go Lord, If you need me. I have heard You calling in the night.”

We will soon pack up the camper for the season — not planning to return to either the Spring or Summer. It is easier to go home when it is cold, and rainy — harder when it is warm and sunny. For years we left the furnace on and came out in the winter. Sadly age has made me more careful of ice and snow. Winter snowy hikes no longer have the appeal that they once had.

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MATTRESS

Commercials on television were rather numerous on the subject of buying a new mattress, both in town and out in the country. I knew ours was ancient. In fact, we had two layers of foam helping to cover the old coils. Matters came to a head when my husband injured his hip and wasn’t able to sleep at night. A closeout ad caught my attention after I hit my head on a cabinet door. We drove out to the location of the store, only to realize that the ad was misleading. It was a bait and switch, no mention of closeout mattresses was made at the store. In the same parking lot, another mattress store was located. We wandered over to check their pricing. The woman on duty mentioned that we would save money buying from her — lower sales tax than Chicago. We learned that she had spent 5 years taking care of her aged grandfather who had dementia. He also happened to be a ham radio operator. When I teased my husband about our mattress at the camper, she knew where Woodhaven Lakes is. She grew up 30 miles from there. As a matter of fact, she still lives in that general area. Because of the expressways, it is an easy drive in to work. SMALL WORLD. We would be able to get our new mattress the next day. I KNEW that wouldn’t work. First my husband was planning to go to a ham fest the next day. Crystal knew what that was. In fact, that is how we learned about her grandfather. I KNEW that in order to switch mattresses, much work needed to be done at home.

I devoted the next two days moving some of the clutter out of our bedroom. Our room is on the second floor. Reached by going up a twisting wooden staircase. Talking to our daughter on the mountain, I realized I needed to move some stuff on the first floor also. Specifically the clothes tree and the bucket that held umbrellas. Our stairway walls are covered with family photos. I removed two of them, but the rest remained in their place. The mattress men said they would hug the railing. It was a GOOD THING I removed the clothes tree. When we removed the foam, we realized just how bad our mattress was. Thankfully it was a VERY GOOD mattress when we bought it. None of our children remembered our getting a new mattress. I didn’t look at the date on the tag. Who knows how old it was.

Thankfully we were the first delivery for the mattress guys. Thankfully they were young. I think they felt aged when they left. They did a good job. Didn’t knock any photos off the walls, nor break anything. The new mattress is MUCH HIGHER than the old one. We decided to use one of the thicker foams on top. My husband picked out the mattress. It wasn’t the firmest, but second to it. The foam and my body are a good match. I slept a whole eight hours last night. I feel like the story of the princess and the pea. My feet barely touch the floor.

This morning the men were at our house to finish our roof. Once again rain stopped their progress. In fact, the temperature is in the 50’s. The open roof cooled down the house, so much so that I found a sweater. I looked at the thermometer setting, but I couldn’t adjust it. ?? I discovered that the furnace was turned off. Thankfully no hit on the head this time. The furnace is now turned on. Soon the roof will be finished and I will start putting our house back in order. At least — some semblance of order for our house.

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BIKE

I’m sure it is my fault. After all, I mentioned that I needed to write a few more thought rambles. I asked for ideas. I asked for “help”.

We are still at the camper. My husband took our two bikes out of the shed and inflated the tires. I used to LOVE to ride a bike. Notice the past tense here. The last time I had the bike out, I got HOORIBLE cramps in my right thigh. So bad I couldn’t move, let alone walk. When they finally let up, I walked the bike back home. I don’t want to remember how long ago that was. I know it was before the ulcer on my left leg. When the doctor treated the veins on my left leg, I asked him to treat the veins on my right leg too — so I would be able to ride a bike. I will admit that I still get cramps in my right thigh. I will admit that I have a stationary bike at home that I haven’t been on either.

The bikes were out of the shed. The tires had been inflated. I convinced myself that I should see if I would be able to ride without a cramp. We camp on a hill. It is a challenging ride up or down but I thought going down hill would be easier. I planned a SHORT ride — to the bottom of the hill, and I would walk the bike back home.

First, walking through the kitchen — my right eye started to hurt. I didn’t know if something fell in it — like an eyelash or a bug or ?? I did know that it HURT. As a matter of fact I couldn’t keep my eye open. I have eye drops in the bathroom and treated my eye to a couple of drops. I told my husband what had happened and said that even though I wasn’t tired, I was going to lie down and rest my eye. I heard the phone when our daughter phoned. I get her voice mail often — I don’t often get her voice.

I put the storm windows on the bunk room windows. I don’t think anyone will be sleeping in there again this year. Night time temps are forecast to go down in the 50’s. Extra storm windows on the East side won’t hurt.

I put my socks and shoes on. I prepared to ride the bike. My husband came up onto the deck. He was replacing the floor in a shed and ran out of screws. Have scooter will travel. A short time later, I returned with needed screws. I hate to admit that I didn’t bring my eyeglasses and needed help getting the screws. I thought the store was getting ready to close and wanted to beat the closing. Thankfully there was someone to help me.

Preparing to ride the bike — I saw a friend walking down the street. After talking to him, I realized my foot hurt and I needed to sit down. One, two, three — delayed again — I realized I wasn’t supposed to ride the bike today. If I don’t try it before we go home, I’ll have to practice on my stationary bike at home.

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LYMPH

I thought that one of the things I was doing might have been helping me to lose weight. Since I was doing at least two things at once, I wasn’t sure what was working. I was drinking organic apple cider vinegar in hot water — twice a day. A man at the veteran’s clinic suggested I increase the dosage to two tablespoons and add honey. It was good for arthritis. I was also drinking a cherry smoothie with protein powder and cocoa. I had read that it was good for pain.

Since I was drinking two concoctions, I wasn’t sure which was working. At about the same time, many of the woman’s magazines that I read, had the same subject line — our lymph system. It seems that as a woman ages, her lymph system thickens. Instead of moving nutrients smoothly through the system, the fat gets sucked into the cells and lodges there. One of the suggestions is to have the juice of half a lemon in hot water in the morning. I have heard this before, but I haven’t tried it.

We left home for the camper, and I had my plans in place. I planned to have a cherry smoothie for breakfast — soup or salad for lunch and a normal supper. My plans didn’t exactly work out. First — the smoothie — although I had one or two, for the most part we either went out for breakfast or I had a half English muffin with peanut butter. It was easier — my husband made mine. I did Tai Chi most mornings and my leg raises at night. Instead of Aging Backwards — I enjoyed water exercise. I didn’t use weights — just my arms but I thought it was good for my body, and I enjoyed the group. Since after exercising I was HUNGRY, for the most part I had some of my frozen soup mixes. I had read that walking 10 minutes three times a day helped lose weight. I didn’t do that either. I injured my foot and too much walking didn’t help. As a matter of fact — I seldom got more than 5,000 steps a day.

So I’m sure you are wondering what I an writing about. I’VE LOST WEIGHT! I have no idea how much I have lost — I used to look like I was 7 months pregnant. Maybe 5 months now — my husband says he is starting to see a waist. My fit bit used to be at the fourth notch when I woke in the morning, and I switched it to three as my wrists swelled. Today I hooked it at the 5th space and moved it to four as the day progressed. So not only is my belly shrinking — my wrist is also.

Soon we will go home. I’ll find out exactly how much weight I have lost. Hopefully I won’t regain the lost pounds. I won’t have my water exercise any more. I can still do my Tai Chi and leg exercises. Hopefully I will find other exercises that will help me.

Just HAD TO SHARE.

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PLAYMATES

I’ve been given a gift that I’m very grateful for. I neither see nor hear my friends in high places but I KNOW they are there. Are they always there? I have no idea but they make their presence known. If I’m having trouble doing something, if I send a “help” request up, it is often answered. The help might be anything from finding something lost on the floor or in the fridge or my glasses somewhere in the house. Now I try to keep the requests to a minimum — function through life on my own, but I have learned that it is very nice to have “HELP” that I can count on.

Sometimes the “help” comes without my asking — it usually is to remind me to do something or NOT do something. Recently I have been going to aquacize, exercise in the water. The campground has provided Styrofoam weights for us to use. I had arrived early and decided that I would bring a few sets of weights to the side of the pool. I picked up a set and immediately lost one. Retrieving the wandering weight, I picked up another set only to have the same thing happen again. It didn’t take many more wandering weights to remind me that I didn’t use them, I had too much enthusiasm and damaged my shoulder. I do the exercises without weights. Only after I loudly exclaimed: “I’m not planning to use the weights myself.” was I able to bring three or four sets to the side of the pool without any more trouble.

I opened Queen Of Angels to “Angels as Playmates and Confidants” one morning. It had been a chilly night and I wanted to see if our furnace was working. I raised the temperature on the thermostat and as soon as the furnace had finished its cycle, turned the thermostat back down. Going out on the deck later, I noticed a plastic bin that we had stored wood pieces left from the building of the deck was melted. It had been just fine the night before, I couldn’t figure out what had happened. It was only after some time passed I realized the bin had been in front of the exhaust of the furnace. The heat had melted the side and the top. It could have started a fire and I had all that lovely fuel inside. Needless to say “LESSON LEARNED” and the melted bin is no longer on the deck. As a matter of fact, the stored wood has now been burned in a campfire. I did remember to say “Thank You.” If we had left that bin were it was on the deck , and returned home. If the furnace had cycled off and on a few times, we might have had a fire.

I’m VERY GLAD I have “friends in high places.

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BE NOT AFRAID

This is the title of a religious song that I first heard when I planned to publish the story of living with Pap’s Alzheimer’s disease. “Be not afraid, I go before you. Come follow Me.” I almost said that it was a new song, but my father passed over more than 20 years ago. He definitely isn’t gone, I’m reminded of my “friends in high places” regularly. Which in my life is a good thing.

I had a warning storms were coming into my life. THANKFULLY THEY ARE NOT HEALTH CONCERNS. I have the ability to turn a tiny bump into a mountain in the blink of an eye. When there is only one problem at a time, I have a better chance. When they pile up, it is harder for me to relax. Even if I have done my best to solve it, and am waiting for the results, they continue to surface like the bubbles in the boiling hot pools in Yellowstone.

Many of my warnings come from the bible. When I open to Job or the furnace in Daniel, I am aware that storms might be coming.The verse often hints at the severity of the problem. Am I proclaiming God’s strength in Job, or listing shortcomings. Have I pointed to the beginning of the furnace where there are three walking or to the ending where they have an angel with them and are praising God?

I won’t list the turmoil in our life right now, I’m sure you have enough of your own but thankfully God is in charge. I needed to tell our neighbor about an upcoming project. He is in Arizona and I didn’t have his phone number. Luckily I opened our curtains and saw his tenant outside. Not only did his tenant have the needed phone number, he will be able to unlock their gates when we have our tree trimmed.

Some of it is just little things — temperature and humidity levels in the hundreds that continues for days. Strong storms when we have a leak in our roof. A flash of lightning that looked like it hit our house. Thankfully that was just a reflected light. (We had a lightning strike hit our house when our children were young.) The car battery loose.

While the bible often alerts me, as well as my book Queen of Angels, they also remind me that God is in charge. “Who made the world a desert? ” Daniel 3:28. “The Lord goes forth like a hero.” Isaiah 42:13. “saying to the prisoners, come out.” Isaiah 49:9. Church is often in the mix: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” Psalm 138

The key is to be aware of the interactions in my life. To keep my eyes wide open, the blinders off. To have courage — God is in charge.

I read something interesting last night. It was in the June 30 issue of Woman’s World. I often buy the magazine but don’t often read it cover to cover. Trying to get rid of some of the clutter on our table, I scanned quite a few of the magazines and found this. “Taming tension with red meat. Eating 16 oz of beef or pork weekly could help you feel less stressed in as little as five day. Red meat is rich in iron and all nine essential amino acids which together relax tense muscles. ”

After the birth of our four children, my request to my husband was for an Italian beef sandwich. I’m often looking for leftover beef in our fridge or getting a hamburger. Makes sense now.

The problems in our world make the problems in my life extremely small. OUR WORLD NEEDS OUR PRAYERS! Please join me! Years ago I read that a group of people joined in praying for the world during a crisis.

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ICE

There is no warning — doctor’s appointment, test results, accident — nothing like that, life is normal — no warning that I’m walking on ice and I’m about to fall through. All of a sudden I find myself in this black hole that I can’t crawl out of. The news on TV doesn’t help. Actually I try to avoid the news but it finds me. Policeman killed in Texas, Hundreds killed in France, Police killed in Louisiana — the world in which we live desperately needs the HELP OF GOD. Or has He/She given up on us. I DON’T BELIEVE THAT FOR AN INSTANT.

Normally when I find myself in a black hole, I avoid people and definitely WRITING. How can I stay positive? How can I write anything of value that would help either myself or others? Interesting questions — NO ANSWERS or are they? This morning getting ready for church I opened the bible to: Isaiah 49: 9 ” saying to the prisoners: “Come out.”

Good! I will admit that this didn’t necessarily help me. Come out from where? Am I a prisoner? But it is my custom to read the whole chapter. “The Lord called me from birth.” I will admit that gave me pause. I’ve read this before, and usually think “I’m in trouble now!” Did it HELP? I am sure it probably did — because I’m sharing this ramble with you rather than hiding under the mess of stuff that is my life. Recently a person about to retire shared his plans with me — he has two pensions which he is banking. He plans to work another year before he retires to Phoenix where his grandchildren live. I’ll admit that sounded wonderful, maybe? This gentleman sounded like he liked to go places. My husband likes to drive but he is particular about the food he eats. When we were in Texas he DID NOT LIKE THE FOOD available there. Traveling with him is interesting unless I’m doing the cooking. Are we supposed to travel — good question? How? We lost our motor home in the tornado last year.

Now I’ve stated before that I do not hear or see “my friends in high places.” But they get their messages to me anyway. Recently I’ve been getting hit on the head A LOT. It might be because I have not been writing.

Whatever the reason, it is comforting to me that I have “help” in higher places. Recently we were at the camper and I noticed a woman pushing an enclosed stroller. As I passed by I noticed she had dogs for passengers. I just had to stop and talk to her. I’m glad that I did. She noticed my shoes and told me of a source of the shoes I was wearing. A) I found them comfortable. B) I didn’t think they were expensive and didn’t know how I would get more. Question solved. Just a little “help.” As you can tell, I NEED ALL THE “HELP” — I can get.

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I DID IT!

Feeling old, temperature at 93 degrees and rising. Did I really want to go downtown? Blues Fest weekend — 33rd to be exact. My husband does not like crowds. He is not really into the Blues, Country is his music. Did I really want to go downtown? I knew asking him to go with me in the high heat, and crowds was not good for him. For years I never went down to attend the FREE events — because he didn’t want to go and I didn’t go without him.

One year, their 25th to be exact, I decided to wander down and have been a regular attendee since then. I realized that I really like Rhythm and Blues. Of course there is not much in the way of music that I don’t like. Heavy Metal might be one. The first time I went down, I got in line for the concerts at Petrillo Music Shell, sitting off to the right, three to four rows from the stage. I have enjoyed watching the signers (words into motion) and listening to some of the great Blues artists. Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, to name a few. I have stayed late and wandered home after dark. I have spoken to people from England that planned their vacation to be in Chicago for the Blue’s Fest.

This year we were back in town. My husband had doctor appointments scheduled for Friday and Monday. Saturday and Sunday were free. The forecast for Friday was in the 90’s. So was Saturday. A cold front was coming in Saturday night so Sunday was scheduled to be cooler. Both of my knees didn’t like me. My good (?) knee tangled with an underwater swimmer in the pool and was damaged. My left knee was still protesting when I wore shoes that affected my knee and hip. Reason told me to stay home.

If you have been reading my thought rambles for some time you are probably aware of the fact that I am stubborn and often don’t listen! 93 temperatures weren’t going to keep me home. I promised to drink plenty of water, stay in the shade and be aware of how I was feeling. I asked which stops had elevators downtown and walked a little farther to avoid taking the stairs. (Both coming and leaving.) I planned to wear new shoes so as not to cause any more injury to my body. I thought carefully of the clothes I was wearing to protect myself from the sun. I decided not to carry a chair — it would be too heavy, I would look for places to sit down. From past experience I knew that sitting on the ground was out, I’d never get up.

I realized that I had been on my feet too long and looked for an empty spot on a bench when I entered the park. Right in front of my eyes was a spot — I asked if I could sit down and was told that I could only until the photographer returned. When he returned, I was invited to stay. THANK YOU!

The gentleman was originally from Illinois, but moved to California where he recently retired. They bought a RV with a toy compartment for his Harley and wander the country visiting Blues Fest’s and Harley Davidson meets. His companion was from the Monterey Bay area. He grows strawberries by the Salinas river. I met my husband in California, our eldest daughter was born in Carmel. I felt right at home — the music was good, the shade comfortable — I stayed until the set was over.

I always wander the whole Fest, checking out the food, the artists. They had amazing FREE rib samples. Wandering here — there, I realized I needed to sit down. Lines where forming for the Music Shell and possibly because of the heat, instead of just one, many lines had formed. I joined one and got FRONT ROW seating. (Sadly my camera was at home.) I totally enjoyed the national anthem sung by Nellie Travis in a beautiful red, blue and white gown. (Sunday I complimented her on her singing and appearance. I asked one of the venue operators to pass on the compliment but it was suggested I tell her myself.)

This has passed the word count I usually use so I will quickly end this. Sunday was cooler, my husband joined me and carried chairs. We used the elevator again and spent time in the shade and also the sun. I saw people that I knew. We didn’t stay for the evening performance and we walked back to the Library to take the elevator. Combined total steps for both days was 37,867. I couldn’t believe it. I’m TIRED but I sure don’t feel OLD!

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CONFUSED

In the early days of my trying to understand the messages that I received, I was hit on the head a lot. I remember the trunk of our car closing on my head when my husband was trying to contact me. I remember branches of a tree falling on my head, and the colored pencils I was using, all rolling off my table because it was time for me to do something else. The one that stands out the most is when the toilet seat fell on my head at Menards. I dislike getting hurt and I do my best to try to be alert and pick up the messages as they come in.

Now I’ll admit that they don’t come in plainly, in English, telling me what I’m forgetting to do or possibly what I should be doing. I’ll also admit that I probably wouldn’t listen which is what causes me to get hurt. When I read the article about the Universe Yelling, I knew that often it is talking to me. I also thought I was paying attention! WRONG! Stuff started falling out of the freezer downstairs. Hitting my foot — slipper socks — no protective shoes. Then a bag of chili fell on top of my head. I thought I deciphered that one correctly and had a single serving of chili soup for lunch. WRONG AGAIN!

Hindsight — I think the message trying to get across was that I was wearing my shoes too long, throwing off my knee — hip. OUCH! Two weeks and my knee is still whimpering, at least it is no longer yelling or screaming. My new request, prayer, pleading with the COMMANDER of my life is that if we are to stay in this house, I need to be able to navigate the stairs.

I’ve cut back on Robin’s walk — one block instead of two. Now I take off whatever shoes I’m wearing in the house and put on slipper socks. I would go barefoot but I’m still wearing my lovely compression sexy socks. I’m trying to pay more attention to the wear on my shoes. My knee improves, then something painful happens. And I’m back butt down, feet up again. Still trying!

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