Two things

[Guest guest]

Two things happened in my life today, both important, each so very different.

One is familiar to me: My sister went into the hospital again with extreme pain and weakness. Even though she is out of it mentally due to pain meds, she wants to hang with me on the phone, and so I willingly listen to her moaning and cajoling me to not hang up 'cause she needs her sissie. OMG! Painful to go through, painful to hear her pain, painful to feel her pain - and a joy to be there for her in the small way I am able to be.

The other thing that happened was a total surprise: An elderly woman stopped me on the street as I was carrying groceries in from the car. She had a totally alive, compelling face, and although her posture was stooped, it was commanding (if you know what I mean). I was immediately drawn in. She asked me some innocuous question about who can park on the street, which I politely answered. Then she launched into "I'm 89 years old, and I served as a machinist in WW1 when they recruited women because all the boys were at war, and I worked beside Rosie the Riveter, and I loved that job, and I loved all my jobs, even though I've had a very hard life, raising my kids as a single mom, and I would like to write a book about my life but I dislike computers, but I can type like crazy on an old manual typewriter - do you know where I can get ribbons for that? - and GOSH! I was spellbound, as my beloved Edy's All Natural Fruit Bars melted in my grocery bag. She lives on 5th St and I live on 3rd, and I hope to run into her again. Next time, I will invite her in. What a highlight of my day meeting her was!

So there you have it. The mystery of the ebb and flow of life. And each of us right smack in the middle of it all.

-Helena (in awe and wonder)