Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘TIMING’

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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SET UP

I’ll admit that sometimes I don’t catch on to something right away. Sometimes the same thing has to happen over and over again before I realize that there is help happening behind the scenes and that I’m supposed to pay attention. Recent blogs have mentioned this: CHAPLAINS — for example.

Okay, what am I rambling on about? We had closed up the camper for the season and I was sitting, waiting with my husband for his doctor’s appointment. To pass the time, I picked up an office magazine on arthritis. I found many of the articles to be interesting. One containing exercises I decided to copy on a scrap of paper in my purse. I thought the exercises would help my shoulder. The interesting thing about this task — I realized that my ability to write had improved. Ever since I fell injuring my right shoulder I have had trouble writing. Grabbing the pen, the motion of the arm as it writes — all where affected by the injury. My handwriting, although never something to brag about, had definitely suffered.

The next article that caught my attention concerned cooking — always a favorite subject of mine. The article didn’t contain recipes, if it did, I didn’t write them down. Instead it focused on steps to make cooking easier for those with arthritis. The step that caught my interest was their use of a crockpot. Advantages being one pan cooking, not having to lift many pots and pans on the stove. I have noticed that my energy is up in the morning and GONE by evening. Because of the injury to my shoulder, I have to pay more attention to the weight of the pan and the placement on the stove.

As always — the change of the seasons also causes a change in the meals that I make. I didn’t pay much attention to my e-mails while we were at the camper. We don’t have ready access to the internet, and I haven’t figured out how to connect my laptop at the WIFI sites. The last time I used my Ipad, I managed to erase ALL of my e-mails, so I was leery. We have a hot spot that I could have used but I left it for my husband and his ham radio.

I had so many things to do when we came home that I left the computer and emails sit. Of course the longer it sits the more e-mails come in so eventually I had to attack the mess. Now, most of them are junk — invitations to spend money or ?? I found a couple of recipes that caught my attention, made in the crockpot.

I didn’t write them down but having access to a printer at home, I printed a hard copy of the recipe. I tried one yesterday — it was a chicken stew that was a hit with my family, easy to prepare and it cooked while I was busy doing other things. I know that I have used the crockpot for beef stew, and pot roast. Having everything ready when I’m tired is an option that I will have to make better use of. The disadvantage — the fragrance in the rooms, all afternoon — LETS EAT!

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STRETCHING TIME

Returning home, after watching our grandchildren while parents investigated Boston, I saw the light flashing on our answering machine. Sad news, a friend had had a stroke, but was recovering. We were only back in town for a couple of days and I wanted to put visiting her on my to-do list. When I phoned her, she hadn’t understood who I was, so I phoned her son. Not only did I learn her condition, but was advised the best time to stop in to see her and how to get to the hospital. He said the best time was 1:00, after her lunch but before her physical therapy at 1:30.

I left the house at 11:00, planning on stopping at the bank, Target, visit Sally, proceed to Costco, then Aldi’s, Trader Joe’s, and Pet Supplies in that order. (Just looking at this list makes me tired. What was I thinking?)

After the bank, I went to Target — they didn’t have what I needed. It was only 11:30, too early to visit. I back tracked and stopped at Trader Joe’s, and Pet Supplies. Noon, I headed for the hospital, arriving at 12:30 — still too early, I didn’t want to interrupt lunch. I headed for Wal-Mart. (They had what I needed.)

It was 1:00 PM when I pulled into the parking lot at the hospital. Sally, who was registered as Sarah, was reading when I entered her room. At 93 years young, she not only looked fantastic, but sounded great. Her words were clear, not slurred, all syllables present and accounted for. She was very fortunate — when her daughter phoned, she heard a slight slurring in her speech and phoned the front desk of her retirement building. Discovery and treatment were within the 24 hour window.

I didn’t stay long, leaving before 1:30 but I was so glad that I was able to visit.

I didn’t have to watch the time anymore, which was a good thing. The day before I had ordered my husband’s prescription on line. The website doesn’t provide the name of the medicine ordered. Late that night, we received a phone call informing me that his prescription could not be ordered for another two weeks. That is when I learned that I ordered the WRONG medicine. Thankfully the pharmacist was able to change the order. I also wanted to upload the pictures off my camera. Should I mention that I had problems. No surprise — problems led to a conversation with the photo personnel. I mentioned that our youngest daughter treated my husband and I to a performance of the Celtic Women for my birthday — the show lasted for three hours. They had seen a performance in Chicago which had only lasted for around an hour. Then I told them that we had been in nose bleed area, seat gg508, and mentioned the significance — “gg” standing for great grandmother. They thought it was a great name for me.

Photos and medicine in hand I wandered to finish my shopping — adding Jewel to the list. And I didn’t have to wonder why I was tired.

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PESTERED TO WRITE

Since I don’t see, nor hear my friends in high places, you might ask how I’m pestered to write. As time has passed since my father passed over, I’ve learned that many things are possible on the other side. For instance: I’ve learned that they can mess with electronics: telephones, computers, TV’s, lights just to name a few. My father didn’t know anything about computers when he passed over, although they were in existence, his memory was already affected by Alzheimer’s which didn’t allow him to learn how to use them. Now I can’t say for sure who it is that helps me with my writing — I would say “Dad” but it could just as easily be my mother, brother or ??

Writing To Pap with Love, I had PROBLEMS. Sentences disappeared, computer stuck, printer stopped — it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was receiving “help”. Once a skill is learned, it continues to be used. If what I’ve written in my thought ramble shouldn’t be shared — the ramble sticks, won’t be saved until I either fix what is causing the problem OR discard the thought. Sometimes the font changes — all of a sudden everything is in caps, or there are spacing problems or ?? I’ll leave more examples to your imagination.

But that doesn’t explain how I’m pestered to write. Just as I’ve learned that my thought ramble is incomplete or shouldn’t be shared, I’ve learned to recognize the signs that I NEED to write. Sometimes the first inkling comes from the bible: Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. before you were born I dedicated you.”
Maybe I’ll open the bible to Isaiah 42: The Servant of the Lord. Since I start the day with a random reading from the bible, the choice is endless. Recently I opened to the empty space at the ending of the Old Testament.

The message might try to get through in other ways — at church — a song “Who shall I send?” Its not like I’m looking for a message or guidance, I turn on the radio and a song gets my attention, a TV program or even a commercial.

If I’m not inspired to write, but a theme has been given to me and I’m not taking the time to explore it — I’ll have trouble sleeping. I wake in the middle of the night, realize that I’m writing in my head and be unable to go back to sleep.

I REALLY DON’T LIKE being hit on the head! I try very hard to be open to messages to avoid that. Now I don’t know if I have anything really to say, but as long as writing seems to be my JOB, I’ll keep trying to put words on paper.

Coming back from the retreat, while walking Robin, I saw two neighbors who I hadn’t seen in a long time. The first one is experiencing leg circulation problems which has restricted his ability to get out and about.
Since I last saw him he had to put his Lab down because of cancer. The same afternoon I met another neighbor who had to have a kidney removed because of cancer. Of course I shared stories with each.

Back home again — at the grocery store, I met a woman from church who has had challenges of her own. I forget how many times in the last year she has been hospitalized but it was a lot. Walking home, another person waited for me to catch up to her so we could talk. I usually pay attention when three things occur but lately I’m paying attention to two, especially when they occur back to back.

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DEEPLY ROOTED

DEEPLY ROOTED

My youngest daughter invited me to go to a woman’s retreat held in Lake Geneva. This was the name of the retreat and no surprise — it really reflects my life.

The day after I arrived home, I thought about how deeply rooted I am in many things. How often this summer I have used the expression “my roots go deep.” Specifically about our time at Woodhaven and our intention to rebuild after the destruction of the tornado on 6/22/15 — we have camped there more than 40 years.

I spent some time thinking about where I’m deeply rooted and the first idea that came to mind was that I’m DEEPLY ROOTED in GOD! I wondered when that root first began and realized that a portion of it is inherited — the Swedish part of my family is Christian. In order to marry my mother, my father converted to Catholicism and I have attended religious schools throughout my life.

Surviving the fire, I must have felt that God had a plan for me — I was still here. Growing up I don’t remember having a firm belief — so I questioned when I first noticed that my roots had grown. That lead me to the Fall Festival at Woodhaven when I was instrumental in saving the life of my neighbor. (Full story is in my book Journey with Me.) Returning to the camper on my scooter I looked at the time line of the day and realized that I was at the right place at the right time to be of assistance and I was HONORED. Life might have been different if I was upset at being used. I might not have noticed the time line — but I did!

Fast forward a few years — Christ Renews His Church — I attended a weekend in March and was involved in hosting a new weekend in October. I wanted to give a personal card to the women attending. My plan was to draw a scene on paper, using colored pencils. I needed a scripture to be on the front page. I brought a stack of books to the camper and planned to find something. I DIDN’T NEED THEM! On my morning three mile walk — walking past Sunset Lake — this phrase surfaced in my mind. LORD, AS LONG AS YOU ARE WITH ME — I’M NOT ALONE. What better saying than that to put on a card? What a GIFT!

Fast forward again, walking down a main street near our home, I felt my feet root into the ground. We had been discussing putting our house up for sale and moving. Feeling my feet root was a new experience for me — I get hit on the head but that is the extent of it. I realized that I had been giving direction — stay, don’t move. I knew that wouldn’t make my husband happy.

DEEPLY ROOTED — in God, my family, friends, our house and neighborhood, Woodhaven. I guess I am!

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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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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER

I don’t remember very much about my brother. He was two years old and passed with my mother in a fire when I was four. In my youth, it wasn’t wise to let on that you had extra talents — psychic or ? Listening to many gifted people over the last few years I’ve learned that many hid their talents and that has made me realize that whatever talents I had, I probably hid them. It was safer.

Growing up, I never realized that I had “help” from the other side. Looking back on my life, I can remember places that a little bit of “help” was needed. My mother was very talented, she hid her interaction well. I’ve come to believe that my brother followed her example, and “helped out” occasionally.

Soon after my father passed to the other side, I wrote a thought ramble “VOICES” in which I imagined angels (Raggedy Ann and Andy characters) playing with my body, trying to wake me up. I wrote it for a Creative Writing class, my instructor WAS NOT impressed. Later it dawned on me that one of the characters might have been my brother. Who but a brother would tease his sister or hit her on the head?

I don’t have any living brothers or sisters. I have watched the interaction of my children with each other and have come to the conclusion that my idea might have merit. Delving into the history of my family after my father’s passing, I’ve learned the date of the fire and the birthdays of my mother and brother. My uncle was younger than my mother, therefore doesn’t remember much . It was too painful for my father to talk about it and I didn’t ask.

I note the birthdays of my mother and brother in my daily calendar as well as others in my family. Recently it was my brother’s birthday. It was a normal(?) day, if there is such a thing. Except one and one made two.

We were out at the camper under a tornado alert. I was waiting for the weather report on television, it would have been on after the commercials when I did something to the TV changer. I was hoping the radar would show where the storms were. We don’t have satellite, just a box that converts the digital signal to a program that can be seen on the TV. I don’t know what I hit, I was placing a control down when something happened. We had SNOW — NOISE — more snow — nothing resembling a TV program for more than a half hour. When we finally recovered the picture ( I don’t know how) we had no sound. It took more time to get sound back. By this time the news was over as well as weather reports. Thankfully our son got us a hot spot that we can connect to that gives us computer access. I learned that the tornado watch for our area had been cancelled. My son suggested that maybe the weather report on our TV was blocked so I wouldn’t worry?????

A few thought rambles ago — I wrote a blog titled ELEVATOR POSSESSED. I had a reason to tell the story when I was having coffee with a group on the morning of my brother’s birthday. I mentioned that the Retina Specialist still stored equipment in the basement. The woman I was speaking to asked if that wasn’t the reason the elevator kept taking us to the basement. Hmmm?

We came back home earlier than my husband and I wanted to. BUT the next day was the only day of the week friends of ours were able to get together. An older friend of mine was visiting on our block that evening and I was able to drop in to visit AND we beat an violent storm home!

Happy Birthday Brother!

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TORNADO

TORNADO

Normally I publish my thought rambles a few weeks after they are written. The events of the past week have caused me to reschedule and publish this one in a timely fashion.

I was forewarned that something was going to happen. The homily at church concerned the storm, Jesus in a boat, the disciples afraid they were going to drown. I had taken a photo of my painting, GHOST SHIP or THE STORM and had it printed on canvas. I planned to embellish it and give it to one of my daughters for Christmas.

Monday, walking Robin I fell, kissing the sidewalk, injuring my body but thankfully not breaking anything. We had planned to go to the camper but my husband needed a refill on his insulin. Since our doctor is in the office on Monday, I was hoping to get his prescription refilled and we would leave on Tuesday.

Monday night, storms in the area were severe — in fact nine tornado’s touched down. Woodhaven Lakes, our campground, was struck by an F2 tornado, damaging the southern half, about 700 acres of the campground. Thankfully there were no fatalities. It was a Monday, only about 300 people were on the property not the crowds of a weekend. Monday evening, The Goodtimers, a club for people over 55 was holding a ice cream social. They were gathered in a solid construction building. At 8:10, security came by and asked them to remain in the building until further notice. At 11:30, they were finally allowed to leave. Trees were all over the roads, blocking safe passage. Tuesday, a search for victims trapped in their trailers was conducted. I have heard that two handicapped victims were rescued. THANK YOU doesn’t fully convey the gratefulness for the staff on property.

Woodhaven is closed, anyone on property can stay but if they leave, they can not return. Thankfully I have heard from some of our friends and learned that a tree fell on our motor home. The photo of it has been published in a newspaper. Thankfully, as of Tuesday, our park model is still in one piece. Many people spend their summers at Woodhaven and winter down south. Many people have lost their home away from home. From the photos, there is total devastation. Electricity was finally turned on Thursday. We still don’t know when access will be allowed.

By now, my husband’s 1954 Lincoln would be on property. But this year, it is still at the mechanics, safe from harm. Because of the downed trees, it would have been smooched too.

It is hard to prepare for the trip. We don’t know what we will find. I have repacked my clothes — jeans instead of shorts, high shoes instead of sandals. I have been told that I won’t be allowed to help. We have purchased a bigger, gas chain saw and work gloves. I’m going to leave the canvas and paints at home. I still have my bathing suit. Hopefully the pool will be open. My body would like that.

We have camped at Woodhaven for over 40 years — our home away from home. I sure don’t want to stop now. But one thing is certain — I will pay more attention to storm warnings and head for permanent structures if there is a need.

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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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POCKETS

I like pockets that securely close in my jackets and coats. I like to leave my purse at home and wander — stores, the Garden, museums, even the zoo. If the pocket isn’t deep enough, things have a way of leaving. I have been searching for a new winter coat for a while with no luck — the pockets weren’t deep enough, didn’t close securely or where limited.

Wednesday I went shopping with a friend. We have a routine — first we stop for breakfast, then go to Wal-Mart, next we linger over lunch before finishing our shopping at a food store. Wednesday proceeded on schedule.

Breakfast was delicious, the sun came out while we were driving to Wal-Mart. I found everything on my list plus a few more. We stopped for lunch. The restaurant was very busy but I found a parking space and we found a table. Time passed and we headed for the food store. Our freezer is still very full so I limited my purchases. Standing in line, I COULD NOT FIND MY CHANGE PURSE which holds not only money but my driver license and credit cards. My purse has quite a few pockets, which I searched without success. I knew I had the change purse when we stopped for lunch. The lines were VERY LONG. I really didn’t want to get out and return to the restaurant but I had no choice. Before I got out of line, I searched the pockets on my jacket and FOUND the missing purse. Absent mindedly, I had put it in the breast pocket of my jacket where I keep my cell phone. That is where I keep it when I’m traveling without a purse.

I dropped my friend off at her house, then proceeded to Costco where I needed to pick up a prescription. When I entered the store, my attention was drawn to a table which held a number of hooded coats. Still searching for a coat with pockets, and recently reminded of their importance, I stopped to check out the coats. I was very pleased with what I found — two zippered breast pockets, two deep pockets that snapped, a pocket on the sleeve and an inside pocket. Now I just needed one in my size. I searched the dark brown stack unsuccessfully, but the lighter beige stack had quite a few in my size. I must admit that the sleeves were a little tight. I’ll have to wear thinner sweaters until I loose some weight. Walking Robin the next morning, I realized that the lighter coat was better for me. I’m often walking Robin in the morning before the sun is up or in the evening when it is getting dark. The lighter coat will make it easier for people to see me.

That would be the end of this ramble — except I had to return to Costco to pick up another prescription on Friday. The stacks of coats were GONE. Luckily I had mine. I talked to an employee that I know. She mentioned that she almost took her life on Tuesday — a knife was on her counter that she was going to use on herself. Not depressed — no reason for the impulse. She heard God tell her to get out of the house, visit a friend. Which she did. I DON’T HEAR GOD TALK TO ME but I’m glad she heard Him. I told her about the Holy Card I have of a prayer to Archangel Michael to guard against evil. She asked if I had another. Saturday I was back at Costco, to deliver the prayer card.

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