Thursday, August 24, 2006
FRIENDSHIP.....
Thursday is a wrap. After being busy all week with cleaning and organizing the hard part is over. I’m thinking…..why not have a TGIThursday? Why wait until Friday to have a TGI something? I declare at our house we will settle down with a glass of tea, put our feet up and feel completion of the work we accomplished…. and then tomorrow we can do the same because it is TGIFriday. I like the sound of that. Two TGI’s in one week is a good thing.
I have a friend who has been a friend for many years. When we moved to our little town and joined a church we met this couple in a Bible Study Group….we visited back and forth and our husbands shared WW11 stories……Bear had been in the Navy first and then in Army Intelligence. Clyde had been in the Battle of the Bulge and the guys never talked about it until one night I persisted……. “ Tell us how it was where you were in WW11.”
Bear and Clyde opened up with amazing detail and recollections of their time in service. Bear had served in Submarines in the South Pacific and Clyde was shipped over and ultimately was in one of the fiercest battles of WW11 in Europe. Opal and I were fascinated and I am still very much so when I hear the stories of the guys who served. To me, they are a cut apart and are deserving of all the credit that may never come their way. Getting them to talk about it is hard……but once in a while they open up and share some of their experiences.
Years went by and Opal and I served together in church activities as did our husbands. One Fall day in 1996 Clyde was concerned about a large limb that had fallen on their roof and proceeded to climb a ladder to remove it. He was atop the house and pulling on the branch when it sprang back, pushing him over the edge. He fell scrapping the huge, rough tree trunk all the way down and landed hard on the ground. The fall broke his hip and seriously injured his kidneys.
He was taken to the hospital where he fought for his life but was unable to recover from the complications. He died in the last week of October that year. Opal stayed with him through it all and returned home to bury her loved one. A few days later we learned that Bear had a fast moving brain cancer that was inoperable and advanced. He was given a few weeks to live and died the first week in February the following year. Opal and I were both widowed and trying to make sense of our lives that had changed so suddenly and tragically.
I began having Opal come one day a week for lunch and we would share and support each other in the difficulties of finding ourselves alone in our golden years. I had watched several ladies in our town who lived beyond reproach and with a good deal of grace when they lost their husbands. I determined that would be my journey. Staying happy and productive means doing for others and finding new meanings for each day.
Opal’s health finally made it impossible for her to drive any more so Rocky or I go after her and bring her to our house for our weekly lunch. It is good to talk over family news, news from folks around town and the pleasure of sharing good food together. Yesterday I talked about being comfortable with people……Opal is comfortable to be around and Opal is a good listener. She has been denied many of the activities she once enjoyed and is more isolated now that she can’t drive but she is full of peace and calm……acceptance of her situation. We can learn a lot from people like Opal, one of the quiet people.
Opal was here for lunch today and we had our usual good visit, lunch and talk of our children. My mother used to always say, “Make new friends but keep the old, for one is silver……the other gold.” I have been blessed with good friends all along the way and I am grateful for each one…….the friends I had earlier in my life are still my friends. They always say the distance to a friend’s house is never long and I know it’s true, they are only as far away as your memory or your heart.
Write, email or call….visit….your friends often. They are a special collection of God given blessings to add much happiness, humor and love to your life.
They are priceless.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
I have a friend who has been a friend for many years. When we moved to our little town and joined a church we met this couple in a Bible Study Group….we visited back and forth and our husbands shared WW11 stories……Bear had been in the Navy first and then in Army Intelligence. Clyde had been in the Battle of the Bulge and the guys never talked about it until one night I persisted……. “ Tell us how it was where you were in WW11.”
Bear and Clyde opened up with amazing detail and recollections of their time in service. Bear had served in Submarines in the South Pacific and Clyde was shipped over and ultimately was in one of the fiercest battles of WW11 in Europe. Opal and I were fascinated and I am still very much so when I hear the stories of the guys who served. To me, they are a cut apart and are deserving of all the credit that may never come their way. Getting them to talk about it is hard……but once in a while they open up and share some of their experiences.
Years went by and Opal and I served together in church activities as did our husbands. One Fall day in 1996 Clyde was concerned about a large limb that had fallen on their roof and proceeded to climb a ladder to remove it. He was atop the house and pulling on the branch when it sprang back, pushing him over the edge. He fell scrapping the huge, rough tree trunk all the way down and landed hard on the ground. The fall broke his hip and seriously injured his kidneys.
He was taken to the hospital where he fought for his life but was unable to recover from the complications. He died in the last week of October that year. Opal stayed with him through it all and returned home to bury her loved one. A few days later we learned that Bear had a fast moving brain cancer that was inoperable and advanced. He was given a few weeks to live and died the first week in February the following year. Opal and I were both widowed and trying to make sense of our lives that had changed so suddenly and tragically.
I began having Opal come one day a week for lunch and we would share and support each other in the difficulties of finding ourselves alone in our golden years. I had watched several ladies in our town who lived beyond reproach and with a good deal of grace when they lost their husbands. I determined that would be my journey. Staying happy and productive means doing for others and finding new meanings for each day.
Opal’s health finally made it impossible for her to drive any more so Rocky or I go after her and bring her to our house for our weekly lunch. It is good to talk over family news, news from folks around town and the pleasure of sharing good food together. Yesterday I talked about being comfortable with people……Opal is comfortable to be around and Opal is a good listener. She has been denied many of the activities she once enjoyed and is more isolated now that she can’t drive but she is full of peace and calm……acceptance of her situation. We can learn a lot from people like Opal, one of the quiet people.
Opal was here for lunch today and we had our usual good visit, lunch and talk of our children. My mother used to always say, “Make new friends but keep the old, for one is silver……the other gold.” I have been blessed with good friends all along the way and I am grateful for each one…….the friends I had earlier in my life are still my friends. They always say the distance to a friend’s house is never long and I know it’s true, they are only as far away as your memory or your heart.
Write, email or call….visit….your friends often. They are a special collection of God given blessings to add much happiness, humor and love to your life.
They are priceless.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
