My widow ladies…
I had a small collection of widow ladies, who were wonderful.
Faithful to the Lord, served wherever and however they could.
I already mentioned GA, but there was DB, EW, MB, & FS.
There was one, WP, who I never got to know at all. But she was the one who stood out my first day at CBC (besides Grandma Lady). I don't think I'll ever forget the welcoming smile on her face and the hug she gave me that day. It truly felt like she thought I was some long lost granddaughter who had returned home. After I moved away, I continued to send birthday cards to many of the people there, and after I sent her a card, she wrote me a note asking me to keep in touch, which I did until she passed away.
That one small act of kindness spoke volumes. When I think about it… though I wasn't one of hers, I was a child (of the King) who had wandered far away… and I was welcomed back warmly, with love, God just used her to demonstrate that love to me. He is so awesome.
DB, was a dear sweet lady. Convinced of her ideals and willing to encourage others to follow the same guidelines. I learned to listen respectfully, consider her opinions, and choose what I wanted to agree with. She was sweet and had a good spirit with those of us who didn't agree with her opinions. That too, was a great lesson to learn.
EW & MB were a pair that seemed to never be apart, to most people anyway. They were definitely best friends…
At first they were a little intimidating. But somewhere J and I got the courage to get to know them. EW had a fantastic sense of humor. The things most people though would offend her, really made her laugh. I don't really know that she was very easily offended. She had standards and expectations and was disappointed to a degree when those weren't met, but she had learned- what others do results in their problems more often than mine.
Mrs. B. was one of my favorites. She and Mrs. W. often had disagreements, bit they always worked them out. Mrs. B. was a bit more active in my live than. Mrs. W. Mrs. B., I think really appreciated the fact that J and I called her (I thunk I did more than J did), and she did more with me/us. One Christmas she took us to Walmart. And everything we liked she threw in the cart and bought for us! We were shocked! Amazed! Who ever does that? Mrs. B. had us over several times to help with springtime yard work. And she had me over more than once to help with indoor spring cleaning… took hours to dust one room, her house was like a museum with all the nicknacks and pretties she had. I don't know how many times she had me over to "work" the VCR. She said she didn't know how to make it work :), but she didn't seem to care what we watched, and she insisted on paying me for my time :). When I told her she didn't need to pay me for helping her, her response was,"Oh. No. I would never have you over here without paying you." I think she knew that would make it harder for my stepfather to complain about the amount of time I spent with her and impossible for him to refuse to let me go with her :)
I think she knew a lot more about my situation than she let on. She gave me multiple opportunities to tell her what was going on, but I was too scared to open up. The day before I left for Indiana, I spent the whole day with her. She had me promise when I got back I would help her with her living will and other things. But the last thing I remember, we were sitting in her car in front of my house and she asked me if my stepfather abused me… I was terrified by that question! I asked her,"How?". We went back and forth a few times until she finally asked if he hit me. I could honestly answer that he'd only done that once years before. She didn't ask anything more specific, accepted my answer with a bit of annoyance in her voice… I am convinced she knew what was wrong, but I wouldn't give her what she needed to help…
When I didn't return to YV, I think she was disappointed, but she seemed to enjoy keeping up with what was going on with me. When I finally had the courage to speak up about my stepfather, she definitely was not surprised, but something changed. She wasn't as friendly and forthcoming with herself as she had been. I found out when we went to YV to move my mother, that Mrs. B. had quit church and had been lying to me about it for months. I was mad and hurt. I wrote her a letter scolding her for lying to me… not even considering the reality that I had lied to her for a lot longer time. I have since apologized, but she hasn't had a thing to do with me since… I still miss her, my friend.
Mrs. S., later became Mrs. O., that was confusing so we called her Mrs. F. :). Mrs. F. was always smiling. So sweet. When she would go on vacation, she always gave me the address where she would be, and always took the time to write me back when I wrote to her while she was away. Wow! How amazing, to take time out from visiting her kids and grandkids to write to me… wow. She laughed and joked and teased with me in choir (we sat beside each other, her on one side of me and Mrs. A. in the other), I think she might have been another one we called pretty regularly, and she always had the time to spend on us.
Oh I love and miss MY widow ladies. I so enjoyed their sweet, caring spirits. They gave me opportunity to do and help. They respected and cared about me. They all encouraged me in the things of the Lord. They shared their lifetimes of memories, their blessings and regrets, good choices and bad… oh how I prayed (at times) to learn from their mistakes, so I wouldn't have to endure similar heartaches!
I know they don't/didn't think they did much for me, but the "little" things they did made a huge difference for me. And the kind of people they were/are gave me a desire to draw closer to Christ to be more like them, was to be more like Him, for it was Him living in and through them that made them love me and me them…
Faithful to the Lord, served wherever and however they could.
I already mentioned GA, but there was DB, EW, MB, & FS.
There was one, WP, who I never got to know at all. But she was the one who stood out my first day at CBC (besides Grandma Lady). I don't think I'll ever forget the welcoming smile on her face and the hug she gave me that day. It truly felt like she thought I was some long lost granddaughter who had returned home. After I moved away, I continued to send birthday cards to many of the people there, and after I sent her a card, she wrote me a note asking me to keep in touch, which I did until she passed away.
That one small act of kindness spoke volumes. When I think about it… though I wasn't one of hers, I was a child (of the King) who had wandered far away… and I was welcomed back warmly, with love, God just used her to demonstrate that love to me. He is so awesome.
DB, was a dear sweet lady. Convinced of her ideals and willing to encourage others to follow the same guidelines. I learned to listen respectfully, consider her opinions, and choose what I wanted to agree with. She was sweet and had a good spirit with those of us who didn't agree with her opinions. That too, was a great lesson to learn.
EW & MB were a pair that seemed to never be apart, to most people anyway. They were definitely best friends…
At first they were a little intimidating. But somewhere J and I got the courage to get to know them. EW had a fantastic sense of humor. The things most people though would offend her, really made her laugh. I don't really know that she was very easily offended. She had standards and expectations and was disappointed to a degree when those weren't met, but she had learned- what others do results in their problems more often than mine.
Mrs. B. was one of my favorites. She and Mrs. W. often had disagreements, bit they always worked them out. Mrs. B. was a bit more active in my live than. Mrs. W. Mrs. B., I think really appreciated the fact that J and I called her (I thunk I did more than J did), and she did more with me/us. One Christmas she took us to Walmart. And everything we liked she threw in the cart and bought for us! We were shocked! Amazed! Who ever does that? Mrs. B. had us over several times to help with springtime yard work. And she had me over more than once to help with indoor spring cleaning… took hours to dust one room, her house was like a museum with all the nicknacks and pretties she had. I don't know how many times she had me over to "work" the VCR. She said she didn't know how to make it work :), but she didn't seem to care what we watched, and she insisted on paying me for my time :). When I told her she didn't need to pay me for helping her, her response was,"Oh. No. I would never have you over here without paying you." I think she knew that would make it harder for my stepfather to complain about the amount of time I spent with her and impossible for him to refuse to let me go with her :)
I think she knew a lot more about my situation than she let on. She gave me multiple opportunities to tell her what was going on, but I was too scared to open up. The day before I left for Indiana, I spent the whole day with her. She had me promise when I got back I would help her with her living will and other things. But the last thing I remember, we were sitting in her car in front of my house and she asked me if my stepfather abused me… I was terrified by that question! I asked her,"How?". We went back and forth a few times until she finally asked if he hit me. I could honestly answer that he'd only done that once years before. She didn't ask anything more specific, accepted my answer with a bit of annoyance in her voice… I am convinced she knew what was wrong, but I wouldn't give her what she needed to help…
When I didn't return to YV, I think she was disappointed, but she seemed to enjoy keeping up with what was going on with me. When I finally had the courage to speak up about my stepfather, she definitely was not surprised, but something changed. She wasn't as friendly and forthcoming with herself as she had been. I found out when we went to YV to move my mother, that Mrs. B. had quit church and had been lying to me about it for months. I was mad and hurt. I wrote her a letter scolding her for lying to me… not even considering the reality that I had lied to her for a lot longer time. I have since apologized, but she hasn't had a thing to do with me since… I still miss her, my friend.
Mrs. S., later became Mrs. O., that was confusing so we called her Mrs. F. :). Mrs. F. was always smiling. So sweet. When she would go on vacation, she always gave me the address where she would be, and always took the time to write me back when I wrote to her while she was away. Wow! How amazing, to take time out from visiting her kids and grandkids to write to me… wow. She laughed and joked and teased with me in choir (we sat beside each other, her on one side of me and Mrs. A. in the other), I think she might have been another one we called pretty regularly, and she always had the time to spend on us.
Oh I love and miss MY widow ladies. I so enjoyed their sweet, caring spirits. They gave me opportunity to do and help. They respected and cared about me. They all encouraged me in the things of the Lord. They shared their lifetimes of memories, their blessings and regrets, good choices and bad… oh how I prayed (at times) to learn from their mistakes, so I wouldn't have to endure similar heartaches!
I know they don't/didn't think they did much for me, but the "little" things they did made a huge difference for me. And the kind of people they were/are gave me a desire to draw closer to Christ to be more like them, was to be more like Him, for it was Him living in and through them that made them love me and me them…
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