Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘FRIENDS’

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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RESCUED

Before 8 AM at the camper, Robin and I headed out for our morning walk. I just turned onto the nature trail when I glanced back to the road and saw two dogs, running without an owner in sight. Both dogs were large — a German shepherd and a yellow Lab or Golden Retriever. I was concerned that they were not on a leash.

Returning an hour later from our walk, I met a man in a car, looking for two missing dogs. He said that the yellow dog often runs away, the shepherd kept him company. I shared the little bit of information that I knew — which wasn’t much, and an hour late.

I sent up a prayer for the missing dogs and the searching owner. Sadly we have been there — looking for dogs that escaped. Many years ago, we went to town to listen to the fireworks, leaving our shepherd in a locked camper. The campground was quiet when we left, sadly it didn’t remain quiet. Our shepherd flew through a tiny screened window in our door. We looked for her for hours, finally finding her outside of the campground, in the farm fields. We were very relieved.

A few years later, I ran after my husband. Our Irish setter and our Shepherd, ran out of the camper after us. I caught up to him at the comfort station, the dogs didn’t see where we went and kept going. Our children were still living at home and went looking on bicycles, with walkie talkies for communication. The dogs were discovered laying by a sun bather at the lake. Both of the dogs liked the water. I don’t remember if they were wet or dry. We were glad they were found.

Late Saturday morning, my husband and I left the campground to go out for breakfast. Three to four miles down the back road, we saw movement ahead of us on the road. As we drove closer, I recognized the missing dogs. My husband opened the back door of our car and invited them to join us. They must have been tired, they did not hesitate to climb in. Both were wet and dirty. The Lab laid down immediately, the shepherd still had energy, sitting up alert, head out the window.

We called security at the gate and asked them to contact the owners. Mission accomplished.

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I GIVE UP

I thought CROSSING THE BRIDGE was the first thought ramble that I wrote. It was. Then I found this one, the note said it was the second. “My friends” must have been having a VERY GOOD TIME back then. Looking to see if I had copies of the early rambles — this one popped up attached to a few more. So wander with me as I revisit May of 2012 AGAIN.

I’m guessing that “My friends in high places” have known about blogs for a long time. I’ve had the feeling for a while that they thought I should write one. I didn’t agree. I won’t bore you with the reasons.

When “my friends” have a project in mind that I’m not aware of, the topic surfaces often. I might read about it in a magazine or newspaper. I might hear something on the television or radio. I might hear it passing on the street. It might surface in a conversation.

BLOGS: The beginning — Julia and Julia, the book and movie, a blog of cooking with Julia Child not only led to a book but also a movie was the first hint. More recently — Sisters on a television program who were invited to speak at a gathering from someone who had read their blog. Holy Week in April — in a magazine, Weight Watchers CEO wrote a blog for three years. Recently heard on Television, Judge Judy who didn’t bother with a computer but recently started an interactive site because she wanted to be part of this world. My youngest daughter, who is writing a children’s story on the Chicago Fire, started a blog. Reason – help with writing and publishing. I knew I was losing the battle when on I was downtown on a Tuesday and stopped at St. Peter’s because I knew they were doing a Novena to St. Anthony, known for his speaking ability. When I was writing To Pap, With Love, I happened to be downtown on Tuesday’s for nine weeks in a row. Confused, I knew he was instrumental in finding lost objects but I hadn’t lost anything. I learned the reason for my Tuesday’s downtown when I read that many years after his passing, St. Anthony’s tongue was still pink. Yesterday, the final straw, another person on TV, publishing a cookbook after writing a blog.

I don’t know where this blog will lead me, but I have begun.

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STILL CROSSING THE BRIDGE

This appears to be the first thought ramble I published In May, 2012. Silly me, I thought I was celebrating my third year anniversary — Not my fourth. I was curious — what did I write my first ramble about ? I could not find it in my files. Thankfully it was in the archives of Wandering with Spirit. Some things change, but this hasn’t. This hasn’t changed either — “My friends” still edit what I write!

Just have to share, this is as true today as it was four years ago.

I have to admit that I debated for a long time. By debate I mean I voiced many reasons for not writing
another book or a blog. I mentioned that many articles are written about the other side and illustrate “help” from those who have crossed over. I have read about pennies and dimes appearing, white feathers, birds, and other things signifying the presence of a loved one. Angels have appeared to those in need. I am not alone. I saw no reason to write about my experiences.

It is evident that I lost the debate. Let me say that I DID NOT HEAR a rebuttal! But then I NEVER do. I have read that we all have a working intuition but mine doesn’t talk to me. I guess that many years ago I stopped listening.

Instead I receive answers on the wind: spoken word, song, on radio, TV or friends or strangers or in print. If I don’t understand or agree, the message repeats until it is understood. Sometimes I get hit on the head to get my attention.

The happenings over the past week have made me realize how far I have come. My interaction with the other side, although never actually seen or heard has developed to such an extent that my understanding, unless I’m being really stubborn, occurs rather quickly. I have crossed the bridge, gotten a glimpse of the other side and I really don’t want to go back.

My “friends in high places” are having a marvelous time over there. I have learned that with their “help”, I’m often in the right place, at the right time, to help someone or be “helped” in return. Evidently, I’m supposed to share this knowledge with others.

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CONNECTIONS

It is hard to explain the interactions between myself and “my friends in high places.” Often it is just a mystery. Many times I’m not even aware of their presence or their interaction but sometimes one and one makes two. Sometimes I’m given a hint, and sometimes, but not often I investigate.

So you have been reading this for over a minute now and I’m sure you are wondering just what in the world am I writing about. The reason for this ramble is that once again I’m amazed. I had a friend request this morning that I accepted. I seldom turn down requests because of the nudges I receive to write this blog. Since I’m not writing on weight loss, making money, raising children, a food blog or any of the other hot topics — I feel that if someone wanders into my life, there is a reason. Just maybe they need to become aware of the “help” they are receiving from the other side.

Now I’ll admit that I received a hint this morning, but I will also admit that I didn’t pay any attention to it. I read in Queen Of Angels: “Bear my son to the world.” This is not the first time my fingers have pointed to this sentence.

When I accepted this person as a friend, a few of her postings appeared on my screen. Now I will also admit that days go by before I read any of the postings on Facebook — or my emails. Why did I read the postings this morning? Your guess is as good as mine. A question popped into my head — who is she? Is there a reason she wanted to be friends? Good questions — curious, I made my way to her page.

Recently there have been a few deaths in my circle of family and friends. My son-in-laws younger brother passed, two people who were on dialyze or who should have been, passed and my husband ‘s sister lost her daughter. The person who wanted to be my friend also recently lost a daughter. This person passed over on my father’s birthday. “Hi Dad!”

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GROUNDED

CAR IS BACK. FINALLY! We didn’t get our car back on Wednesday — but the mechanic phoned on Thursday and told us they found and corrected the problem. There was a crack in the vacuum hose, which didn’t show up on the diagnostic programs.

I went to the Christmas Song Concert without my husband. He was concerned about the car. Since I like to sit at a table so that I can stretch my legs, I invited a woman to sit with me. This was the first time she attended the concert, her husband of over 48 years passed last year. After the concert and a few of my stories, she mentioned that she was glad she sat with me.

Meanwhile, I was wondering what else I had to do before I got my wings back. Christmas was coming, I had shopping to do. The first thing was to get my husband’s insulin. The next day — “Hello Stores. Did you miss me?”

We celebrate Christmas a week earlier so our youngest daughter and family can be home in their own house for Christmas Eve. Sadly this year, both my daughter and her husband were sick. They hadn’t planned to come but life intervened and plans changed again. My granddaughter forgot her coat at home. Thursday, the temperature was 52 degrees. The it dropped, down below freezing. Her mother and I went shopping for a new coat and thankfully found one on sale. The outing wasn’t good for my daughter though, she felt worse. She visited an Immediate Care office and was very pleased with the service. New, stronger prescription — she felt better when they left for home. It doesn’t hurt a mother to take a few days off, it didn’t hurt me to be able to give her that time.

My daughter wasn’t the only one who was grounded. A good friend of mine phoned to share that she fell, fracturing her hip. SHE CAN’T GO SHOPPING WITH ME! She had planned to decorate for a party, she had planned to attend another party the next day and God laughed. She has already had her operation. But rehab will take a while. I told her that we can go shopping with her walker. It will fit in my car.

I’m visiting two of my friends at the hospital today. I’m bringing a tin of Swedish cookies to each. Sally has been in the hospital for a few weeks, but my life was busy, then I was grounded. Sally’s 94 birthday is tomorrow and she is finally being released. I found a Christmas card from her from last year this morning while I was looking for a cookbook.

I’ve mentioned many times that I have friends in high places. The other Sunday, I got a glass of apple cider vinegar and water. I only was able to drink half the glass before my arm hit it, and spilled. I got another glass, my arm hit it again, spilling all over the floor. I didn’t get a third glass, put my coat on instead and headed for Mass.

Our youngest daughter and family have headed for home with their children and dogs. Our house is too quiet. They had their Christmas elf with them. Our Christmas tree, archway and pillars had banners counting the days until Christmas. That morning I opened Queen Of Angels to Angels as Playmates and Confidants. My father’s memorial card marked the page. “Hi DAD!”

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VISIT

I’ve already shared that I start the day with a reading from the bible, followed by a reading from Queen Of Angels. Tuesday I opened the bible to Jeremiah 46 — “The message which the Lord gave to the prophet Jeremiah.” I opened Queen of Angels to — “Do I recognize this time of my visitation?” Did I pay special attention to these readings? Good question — answer “NO”.

It was a shopping day — my husband needed prescription refills. While at the store I decided that I would down load the pictures from my camera, get ready for Christmas. The machine DID NOT recognize the film. Neither did the other two machines that I tried. Going back to the first machine that had been successful in the past, I put the film in, which promptly fell to the floor. The film is a micro, very tiny. Immediately I was concerned — was the film damaged? Had I lost all my pictures? Evidently the fall woke the film up, the photos loaded onto the machine — over two hundred. After I chose the hard copy photos, ordered the DVD, I learned that the photo machines were down. Copies would take longer to process. When I shared my experience to a friend at the store, she remarked, “You know what was going on don’t you?” I will admit that I wasn’t surprised when I was told the printers were acting up. I didn’t necessarily put one and one together.

The rest of the shopping trip followed suit. My husband and I stopped at Fed X to make copies of the Christmas Letter. Then we stopped at a grocery store. It isn’t my normal shopping place — I only needed coffee and flour. Four shopping bags later — not only did I have coffee and flour, I had Dreamfield elbow macaroni, which is very hard to find and other supplies which were also on sale. After all, Christmas is coming and I have cookies to bake. I’m going to have to visit this store more often.

We stopped for lunch at a fast food place — wraps were the special of the day. One of the choices was Greek. When I inquired, I learned it was a gyro in a wrap. It was delicious, it was huge, half of it went home with me.

We returned to Costco to see if the pictures were ready. They were! Walking to our car, I found a couple of evergreen branches on the pavement. I LOVE the smell of evergreens, they came home with me. We have an artificial tree.

We stopped at the pet supply store — they had a new flavor in a brand that I buy for Robin — Merrick Great Plains Red Recipe — Robin LOVED IT — out of the bag, no cheese added.

We stopped at Trader Joes. I mentioned to the person running the samples that I looked for Fried Mushrooms with out success. As I was standing in line, he came out with two bags of frozen mushrooms, that had just come in. One was my fried mushrooms — it came home with me.

Arriving home, I was greeted by a huge poinsettia plant on the table, a gift from our neighbors.

Did I have a visitation that day? I know so!

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STEPPING UP

Driving home I thought of the PERFECT TITLE for a thought ramble. Of course I thought I would remember! Are you laughing yet? I think “my friends in high places” are. They just erased everything I have written so far. This is “help” in the extreme. Maybe it is not a subject that I should share.

Bit by bit I’m trying to do the best I can with each day. Although I regularly attend Catholic Mass, many years ago the message came through that my involvement with our church should be limited. I could detail the many occurrences that brought that message into my mind but I don’t know if those experiences would help you. It seemed that my stories would be better served with people outside of our church.

(Right now my mind is not remembering the theme of the ramble!) Today I joined a group of my friends at a retirement home where our parish priest was saying Mass. Arriving, I learned that one of my friends was in charge of setting up the refreshments and I knew that I would help out. I can still walk unaided and my arms and hands still function. Many of the participants use walkers or canes. I was right. I even surprised myself when I was able to carry some of the chairs. During Mass, I sat next to a woman who shared my maternal grandmother’s first name — Molly. Sadly I learned she is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

I had brought photos with me — of the summer — of the devastation from the tornado, of the Japanese Garden, of Natchusa and it’s buffalo’s, of the new nature park in the city. They aren’t able to wander as freely as they once where and I like to share. A friend liked a photo I had taken of the waterfall at the Japanese garden and thought she might like to paint it. I was happy to give the photo to her.

This has been a beautiful blue sky day. Arriving back home — we took Robin to the dog beach. She is very quiet in the car except now she recognizes the beach and starts to cry as we park. A female dog who recently gave birth tried to join me in our car. I learned she had eight puppies. The owner was keeping two of them. As we were leaving the beach, I commented that we had lost our female chocolate Lab a few years ago. He mentioned that he had lost his shepherd after 25 years. “You know she is fine on the other side,” I told him. “No, he didn’t,” he replied. At that I shared a short version of Shanae’s gift to me, — when I saw her spirit RUNNING through the house when we sent her home. I have to admit that that gift has made the passing of our other dogs easier to handle.

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RUFFUS

The Mind, Body, Spirit Exp. comes to our area three times a year. I try to attend at least two of the events. I’ll admit that this summer I wasn’t looking forward to attending. I had low energy, just plain TIRED. My husband knows how much I enjoy going — it is one place where I’m comfortable — the participants are more talented than I am — he convinced me to go.

This weekend, I felt like I was walking under a dark cloud that I couldn’t escape. Tired, no energy, no workshops that called my name — “Why am I here?” — that describes the situation. Since I go to the event so often, I know many of the vendors. When I stopped to talk to one, she suggested that I spend some time with crystals. I had already spent time looking for a new crystal pendulum without success. Each one I tried didn’t want to come home with me. I wandered to the booths that sell crystals. On the way, I stopped to chat and shared my quest. Doing so, I received help. A brother of one of the vendors suggested I follow him and he would help me find a pendulum. We wandered to the first booth I had stopped at that morning, but instead of pendulums, he stopped at pendants. “Choose one.” he said. There were more than a hundred pendants on the table — many emblems, many different colors — too many to choose from. I put my hand out and touched three — one for healing, a mermaid and a dragon. I almost chose the pendant for healing but both the creator of the pendant and the brother thought I should get the dragon — I’m fiery and have good energy. (Not Saturday but they’ve known me for many years.) I knew I needed a name for the dragon, but the brother told me that the dragon would tell me his name. I almost laughed, I have a hard time with names, titles. I stopped in the bathroom and thankfully the name Ruffus popped into my mind. The dragon had shared his name! And that is not all he shared.

I remembered the direction to spend time with crystals so I revisited the artist and asked what crystals comprised the pendant. Although I could list them, I have tried three times and each time something has occurred to stop my writing. Therefore I will take the direction that the knowledge of the dragon’s properties is for my use only, and just say that the various crystals in my dragon seems to be working for my good.

Sunday morning, I arrived in time to listen to a shaman who uses song for healing. Preparing for meditations, I always close my eyes — I closed my eyes to listen to his song and not be distracted by the outside. I was very surprised. I don’t have control over my talents — they are gifts that come and go at their will, not mine. With closed eyes, I saw a lion, a dog, a wolf, and an eagle. I knew I wouldn’t remember so I opened my eyes and wrote them down. Closed eyes again, I saw a buffalo, a deer, many winged species, then recognizable — a crow and a hawk. When his song was over, I asked the shaman if his song was meant to call in the animals and told what I had experienced.

Many of the crystals in Ruffus are for clarity and channeling. If Ruffus can chase the dark clouds and help with my other issues, he and I will be VERY good friends!

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SPEED BUMPS

I’ll admit that I’m not bored when my life doesn’t have a bunch of problems surfacing. Sadly ever since the end of June, I feel like I’m going over speed bumps — if not every day, a couple of times a week. Thankfully they are not mountains, just high enough to make me pause, reflect, reconsider, and PRAY.

It all started when I fell and hurt my shoulder — although it is getting better, I still have not regained normal movement. Therefore, I don’t exercise every day, or every week. Little things like writing or peeling potatoes aggravate my arm. I suppose I could stick to a food plan but I’m not doing that either. Of course, the tornado didn’t help!

I’ve already written about the tornado, work is still in progress to reclaim our space. It is VERY sunny, we miss the trees, the shade. A friend of ours planted an apple tree many years ago. We talked to a person to remove the tree stumps when I noticed the apple tree is sending up shoots. Since Muscles planted it, we are going to see if it becomes a tree again. We lost 11 trees but are only having 9 stumps removed at this time.

If there is a silver lining to our loss of trees, we now have better television reception. Before the tornado, we had 4 channels plus the religious stations. Now we have more than twelve. The trees aren’t blocking the signal anymore.

Returning from the camper, we learned that my husband’s company is canceling our health insurance. They feel we can do better on the open market. They have provided a company to help us choose new plans. Since my husband is diabetic along with a few other health problems — a new plan will be more expensive.

June ended, I hoped the bumps would even out. NOPE Our favorite restaurant is closing on Labor Day. Since my husband is particular — finding places to eat that fit his tastes and that we can afford is not easy.
We headed to Florida for our granddaughter’s wedding. My seat companion needed someone to talk too — I fit the bill. She shared her life story and current romantic interest. Our plane was diverted to Orlando because of thunder storms — thankfully the storms ended and we were able to safely return to Jacksonville — two hours late. Our granddaughter planned to wed on the beach. Thankfully they had a beautiful blue sky, dry wedding.

Just to keep life interesting — the alarm system at our daughter’s house sounded an alert at 2:00 AM — a French door shook in the wind. Returning home, — we had a good flight, calm skies, gentle landing. We learned our broken motor home had been removed from our property. Most of the debris was gone. Before we left the campground, I spent some time in the pool. Spotting a friend, I took advantage of the opportunity to talk or listen. She told me that the time we spent together really helped her, she felt better. I also learned that an old friend had passed, we had just been talking about him. Many years ago, he taught my youngest daughter how to dive.

July had finally ended. First of August, we learned that the garage we have taken our cars to for over thirty years was closing, they were retiring. They sold the building but not the business. More challenges — more new opportunities.

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