Stirred Memories

Four years ago T and I met one of the Godliest women we have ever known and she happened to live across the street from us. She changed my perspective on many things. She was a faithful prayer warrior, rising early to commune with her heavenly Father. She went home two summers ago and since then, her son has been living in her home. He had lived with her, caring for her, the last few years of her life…point is, her son, RJ (above with T3), had open heart surgery Tuesday. His sister is coming to town to care for him for a few weeks, so he gave me the keys to his house so I could help get things ready for her arrival. His house is a two bedroom, one being his and the other had been his mother’s. I entered the house yesterday afternoon and stepped into SG’s room. It had stood still since her death. It’s as if it hasn’t been touched. RJ has moved several pieces of furniture and knick knacky items that just aren’t “him” into that bedroom…I had to do a little arranging so his sister would be able to get in there, but I was amazed. As I dusted and freshened the space, I lifted the mirror off SG’s vanity top to dust beneath it. She kept a bowl of jewelry there, along with her brush and comb. I lifted the mirror and my eyes just filled with tears. My heart got all choked and tender…beneath that mirror sat a stack of photographs and notes. There was an envelope that read, To SG, Merry Christmas, I love you, Love L (her husband). There were photos of her children and her husband, verses jotted down, a small card printed with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to fill her with Christ. It was like a secret window into her heart. I looked at the pictures on the walls and I spotted a drawing of two small babies… SG had had twins. RJ is a twin, but his sister had died very young. And how precious is the memory of SG sharing that with me. She had experienced a miscarriage as well, and she had clung to the cross through it all. As I moved items, trying to organize things a bit, I came across a large plastic rhinestone studded belt. She had worn that belt to thanksgiving dinner in our home the thanksgiving before she died. She stepped into our living room feeling like a million bucks, and between the rhinestone studded belt and the red lipstick, she was looking like it, too! It just flooded my heart with memories. I miss her. I miss her wisdom. I stepped in the kitchen where some ladies were doing some cleaning. The cabinets were open and I saw SG’s angel food cake pan. I remember calling her and asking to borrow that pan. She handed it to me on her porch and said she’d “will it to me.” I also found her silver punch ladle in a pile RJ had moved into her room. That brought back a memory from the second Christmas we lived here. I’d invited SG to a Christmas tea for the neighborhood ladies. She agreed to come and then had MW and I wait by the door while she ran to get something. She handed me that ladle and told me to use it for the punch. I was so nervous carrying a solid sterling ladle in the bottom of a stroller, walking all over the neighborhood… what a precious friend with an eternal perspective!