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She was just a neighbor whom I spoke to on my way in
from my job; nothing out of the ordinary, just someone who
had crossed my path now and then.
As time went on, we started commenting
on the weather, the world conditions and such. It was not
too long before we started talking about more personal
things such as family and friends.
One snowy afternoon, her husband had
been shoveling snow from their walkway. I noticed that he
was doing this as I could see their home from my window. I
did not give this much thought and went about my business.
At this particular time, my nephew had
been living with us; my husband, daughter and I. When the
telephone rang, I answered and this lady whom I mentioned
earlier, was frantic. Her husband had passed out on the
floor and she called to see if my husband and nephew could
come to assist her in getting him onto a couch. Both of the
men hurried across the street and stayed with them until the
squad came to take care of her husband. The squad took him
to the hospital. He had suffered a stroke and passed away
within the week.. My heart went out to my new found friend.
They had been a very devoted couple having been married for
50+ years.
Knowing that she would be living alone
and being concerned about her, I started dropping in to
check with her. She had one son but his wife was not too
fond of my her so I felt she needed any kindness that I
could bring her way. She was very interesting and fun to be
with. She became like another grandmother to my daughter and
eventually we started referring to her as Grandma Barger,
much to her delight.
Often times, my daughter would spend
some quality time with her and has fond memories of those
days. She became a wonderful mentor to my daughter as well
as to me.
Her health was failing and she started
falling a lot. I took it upon myself to fix extra food for
our evening meal so I could provide for her. I was not sure
how well she was eating so this relieved my mind as well as
giving her pleasure. I was not aware of her likes/dislikes
in food but she always seemed to be pleased with what I took
her. I still remember when I took her food to her one
particular evening. I had fixed tapioca pudding.. It was one
of our favorite desserts but when she saw that I had brought
it, she was so very well pleased as it was her favorite,
too.
Grandma Barger has been gone from our
lives for several years but her memory lives on in our
lives. My point is; you receive double when you do for
someone else as you feel a glow of warmth plus it is part of
what Christ would and has done for us.
?© 2004 Norma Liles
hoopla214
@ yahoo.com
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May you be blessed today.
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
To read archived stories, click on this link:
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004
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