Last week, I had a terrible, no good kind of morning. I won’t even delve into all the details of
the morning, but let’s just summarize with the following 5 phrases: sick
stomach, potty accident, late for appointment, forgot paperwork, cavity and
crown needed. All before 9 am. We’ve all had those days, and we’ve all
wanted to forget those days.
Right after
it all went down, I met up with my Mom to go school shopping for my kids. Phil had five of our kids in camp that day,
and so I brought the baby with me and the three of us headed to the
outlets. After getting to shop in the
first store, Declan needed to eat, so I sat on a bench outside and people
watched, which is one of my most favorite activities (much to my husband’s chagrin.) I was still reeling a bit from the morning’s
disasters and trying to let it all go as I sat and fed my sweet baby boy. Mothers who passed by gave me a knowing smile
as they watched Declan’s feet peeking out from under the blanket I was covering
myself with. Older couples stopped to
say hello as I burped him. A young
teenage girl sat down beside me on the bench, unaware that I was nursing a baby
and looked a little embarrassed when she realized she had committed to sitting
next to me. I laughed inwardly at her
sweet naivety.
Then I saw a husband and
wife (I’m assuming here) coming towards me to go into the store. The woman had her hand on the husband’s
shoulder and the man was in a motorized wheelchair. She asked him if he would be okay waiting
outside while she ran into the store to pick something up, and he nodded
okay. As I was finishing up the feeding,
I watched that man try to stretch out his arms and get comfortable in his
chair, then looked down at my baby and was overwhelmed with gratitude for his
health. For all my kid’s health. For my husband’s health. For the strong loving marriage we
shared. For the beautiful witnesses to
marriage we both had growing up. For all
my siblings and in-laws and their families.
We are so so so blessed. My
perspective about my terrible morning completely shifted. I had so much to be thankful for.
An elderly woman came over as I was trying
to continue shopping and was cooing over Declan and touching his cheek (which
normally makes me squirm) but I just let her, it seemed to make her so
happy. I told my mom about how I let
that woman touch Declan a little too much than what I was comfortable with, and
she said “a good deed is a good day”. She’s
a smart cookie, that one! And she’s so
right, because the days I go to bed feeling the best are the days that I’ve
served others the most. After receiving
wonderful meals when I came home from the hospital with Declan, I joined the
Meal Ministry at our church, and have been blessed with opportunities to make
meals for others. Everybody is so thankful
to receive a meal, it’s humbling and amazing.
I have since decided to try to make every day a good day by doing at
least one good deed, and God is giving me plenty of opportunities (be careful
what you pray for!).
A few days ago, my friend, Laura, texted that her college
friend, Sarah, needed prayers right away, as she had been attacked by a swarm
of bees while out with her children. Sarah
was able to make it home to tell her husband that bees had attacked her, and
then she went unconscious. She was
pregnant with their fifth child, a girl named Cecilia. You can read more about her story here. Both Sarah and baby Cecilia ended up passing
away. As I was getting updates on her
status, my heart was so heavy for her family and sleeping did not come easy
that night. I wanted to do something to
help, yet had nothing to do but pray.
When I realized that Laura was going to fly down to her funeral, I
offered to drive her to the airport, because in a selfish way, it made me feel
better knowing I was doing something to help out in some way. Laura and I talked in the car about Sarah,
and I was saying that it just didn’t make sense. She was a young, healthy woman, open to life
and passionate about spreading Our Blessed Mother’s devotion to the Rosary (she
made clay rosaries). Laura said she was
thinking the same thing and had told a mutual friend who replied that Our Lady
was surely with her at her death, she had loved Mary so much, and Mary loved her
even more. That made us feel better, as
does picturing her in Heaven holding her unborn baby girl, and knowing she had
just visited her family and gone on a date with her husband. It was as if she had been able to tie up
loose ends without knowing it. The bee
stings made an aneurysm in her brain rupture, and the combination of it all had
been too much. Laura said that since she
had that aneurysm, it could have ruptured at any time, so maybe this tragic
event was a little bit of an act of mercy by God. Maybe she could have been driving with all
her kids in the car when it happened, and this terrible tragedy was actually
the lesser evil.
I don’t know, I can’t
stop thinking about it, but I feel like I have to explain it somehow, I have to
do something to help. I can clearly see
by the grace of God that the man in the wheelchair and Sarah’s death have made
me appreciate all I have a little more. It’s
so easy to take our blessings and gifts for granted. We mustn’t. We never know when God will stop
giving us borrowed time. Hug your kids, kiss your spouse and thank God for all that is good. If you feel so
inclined, please pray for the Harkins family and think about donating to help, for a good deed is a good day.
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| Sarah and her family. |
