Friday
Today’s been a busy but fun day. I woke up at about 3-30am and lay in bed awake for a while before going back to sleep at 5am and waking up again at 7am. The problem with this scenario was that it was too late to go to gym. What I should have done is got up at 5am and made the move! If it is to be, it is up to me. Sleep was good!
We met Julian and David for breakfast and then all of us went on our merry way. I went into the store to pick up something for our ladies meeting. As I got to the chocolate aisle, a very short rag-tag limping one-armed beggar approached me inside the store. He showed me R1 in his hand and gesticulated to the loaf of bread he was carrying. With a bottle store right opposite, I wasn’t about to hand out cash, but I did say to him that I would pay for his bread at the till. I picked up what I needed and then looked around for him. With free food in the offering, he had rushed and picked up some tinned beef. We were about to get in the queue, when he hastily hobbled off again, this time to pick up a big box of Weetbix. He only had one arm, so now he had all he could carry. I asked him if he wanted anything else. “Peanut butter”, he said, “but I don’t know where it is.” I set off down the aisle with him rushing behind me. We found the right spot and I cast my eye down the peanut butter options. Selecting the biggest I could find, I asked him if he wanted that one. Taking the peanut butter in a reusable plastic container with a handle, I returned to the till where we waited. I ordered a bag, put through the supplies, paid, got it packaged and handed him the bag. With a simple ‘thank you’ he disappeared out the store.
I have a real problem with beggars, especially those who know where I live. I don’t trust them. I fear them. I am suspicious about them and generally I’m not very generous towards them. This guy was an opportunity for me to be a tiny bit generous with no comebacks. Afterwards, it was almost as if I got the message, ‘you see you can do it!’
There’s a saying that goes, ‘ you teach people how to treat you.’ If you let them run all over you, they will. The guys that come to our house impose their presence and their needs on us at a time that suits them, yet Mike, bless him, jumps to attend to them every time they come. I don’t know how he does it.
Mike spent most of the day working on the electrics for the solar panels. It looks pretty impressive…
The batteries will go on the shelves.
After my ladies meeting, I did some work and then Julian and David arrived to watch the Wimbledon men’s semi finals. We had dinner at home and it was a very pleasant evening. Federer plays Djokovic on Sunday in the final after Nadal lost to Federer this evening. Someone has come up with this amazing picture of an elderly Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic …
Got their aging faces perfectly!
Nugget from my journey – sometimes I’ve been amazed that God has answered prayer and met needs that I hadn’t even asked for. I found that to be the case when it came to the end of Mike’s Mom’s life. It was 2013 and Mike’s Mom, aka Granny had been in the Ladies Christian Home for about 6 months. At the end of October that year, we were leaving on a 5 week overseas holiday. I was so very concerned about Granny – that she may feel abandoned. At that stage Mike was seeing her about twice a week and I was going in once a week – sometimes twice. Suddenly, when we were away, she would go from 4 visits a week to maybe one from Stacey and David. Mid-September, I got a call from the doctor at the LCH who said Granny had a massive lump on her chest. I couldn’t recall ever seeing one. The next time I was there I took a look. It was the strangest thing. It was like an egg sticking out of her breastbone. The doctor had wanted to know if I must refer her to the hospital. At that stage she had just turned 89 and was increasing in frailty. I told the doctor I didn’t know what the hospital would do. Let’s wait and see. As the days passed, her condition deteriorated far more quickly than I could ever have imagined. On Thursday 3rd October, Mike and I visited and as soon as I saw her, I knew that she had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. The end could not be far. I was so shocked to see her life ebbing away. But Friday she rallied. Saturday when we went to see her, she was still very poorly. Now in frail care, she was turned every couple of hours. She could not speak, but she stared at Mike, her eyes fixed on his face. It was quite moving. When we left that day, it was hard for me to stop crying. I was so upset. It was so sad to see her. On the Sunday her condition had not changed but now she was hardly able to eat and was only drinking just a little. Monday, she was the same.
Monday 7th October 2013 at 8pm, we got a call from the home to say she had passed away. How sad I was that I wasn’t with her. This wonderful Mother-in-law of mine who embraced me as a daughter and generously accepted the vast differences between us. I was so grateful to have the time with her that I had. I often thought to myself, “God took her.” I also used to think I will stop worrying about Granny when she is in heaven with Jesus. When Mike and I boarded the plane for our holiday, Granny was in heaven with Jesus. I didn’t need to worry about her at all.
John 14:26
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
I walked 10000 steps!
Braces:
Day 241