Yesterday

Yesterday the kids and I were sitting in the little section of our church where they have tables and chairs set up to sit down and eat the free donuts and bagels that they have out every week. This has become our Sunday morning ritual. Daddy goes on to the nursery where we work for the first hour of church, and I take the kids to get donuts. Well we were sitting there and at the table next to us, I heard the people, an elderly woman and man, not married or anything, just friends, discussing that she was a twin. She said she was a fraternal twin and that her twin was a brother. He asked about the twin more and she said that he had passed away 16 years ago. She said when he died, she lost her best friend. She said she had no children and I couldn't hear her say whether or not she had ever been married, but if so her husband was gone as well. She said she was alone as far as family now. It took maybe two minutes for her to tell this story and as I sat there, I found myself tearing up thinking of her and how she must truly be lonely.

Two weeks ago, I was in the nursery working and usually I'm on the side of the crawlers, but this time they needed me in the infants and I was there holding the tiniest little baby and the only other person in there was this little old lady who comes in every week, usually as a group of old ladies, who like to sit in there and hold the tiny infants and chat. Well her friends weren't in there for some reason, so it was just us. She started telling me a similar story of how she does have family but they live far away and her husband has passed on and she was telling me how the other day, she got up around 6:30, went out to the chair in the living room and fell asleep, not waking until after 9. She said when there's no one there, you don't have much to get up for. That just hit me so hard. I really need to appreciate all the different people and things, I do have that are reasons for me to get up. Both of these ladies, probably enjoyed happy lives, but now find themselves living it alone. I really need to remember how grateful I should be to have kids climbing all over me, a hungry husband, a crazy doggie, chores to do, school work to do, other family and friend obligations to tend to. I really have a lot and usually I complain about having so much, like in the last post, and I really need to just sit back and appreciate being needed and having so much to do. Someday I may be like them and just wishing for something to do or someone to be needed by.

I hope someday my kids will think of each other as true friends like the first lady. They don't have to be best friends, but I so want them to be a part of each other's lives and be supportive to each other.

Well I've learned so much from the ladies at church lately, usually I only learn stuff during the sermon. I guess that's why it's so great to have a church family to learn from. Their life experiences are examples to us, whether good or bad. It's great to have that to look up to.