Kudzu is often considered a plague and an unwanted guest. However, at the right time of year, the air is fragrant with it's perfume, and when picked, the blossoms produce a beautiful sweet jelly that is delightful to the taste. My students were amazed when I picked the blossoms, boiled the flowers and they helped to make the jelly.
I know someone who's life has been more than a little rough lately and I thought of him when I made the jelly. His father died about ten days ago and the first of his niece's killers was sentenced on Monday, his father's funeral was Tuesday. So on Thursday I stopped by to give him a little gift. What he didn't know was that his gift to me was far larger.
This person is someone I know professionally and every time I meet with him he unfailingly tells me how good I am as a Social Studies teacher. Sometimes I forget that I am really passionate about teaching about our country. Talking with him renews my passion for what I really do love and makes me remember that I am a good teacher.
As I talked with him about my sympathy for his loss, we talked about his father and his father's legacy. I thought about my own father so recently gone and what he had left to me. He told me about his father and the kind of person he was and I shared how my step-sister had said that my own father was so very like a peach, already sweet before being squeezed and was always sweet no matter what life threw his way. We shared our faith and the sense of loss. For the first time I was able to really grieve for my father. As we talked I was grateful that he had such a close and supportive family and that as his father passed that there were those who loved him holding his hands. I wondered if anyone held my father's hand because I was not allowed to be there to do so myself.
As we talked about his niece I shared how much my heart broke at his brother's grief and loss. I shared how much I prayed for their comfort as I watched this father confront his daughter's killer with such obvious pain and dignity in the courtroom. We shared our feelings as parents and how we would willingly give our lives for our children and again we shared our faith. I was impressed still more by the love of his family for one another and shared with him how grateful I was that in his time of trial that he had a wonderful and loving spouse to support him.
We talked for a while and on the way home I saw God's hand in all around me more clearly than I had recently. The clouds seemed more brilliant, the leaves more shades of green, the sky more blue, and somewhere, perhaps only in my imagination, I smelled the Kudzu blossoms.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
One of those days...
Have you ever had one of those days? Although I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, I am also selfish enough to hope that I am not alone. I have just gotten up from a nap hoping that by "going back to bed and starting over" I will be undoing some of the jinx that seems to have followed me today.
I got out of be and started my day by cleaning up a mess tha tone of my dogs had left in the hall. They never mess in the house. Then I swept up the mess that one of the dogs had made sorting through the trash looking for items of culinary interest. That one was my fault for leaving such interesting items within reach.
I went downstiars and started laundry in my washer that leaks profusely and proceeded to make the food for my dinner, fortunately, I managed not to burn anything. My laundry went okay and I even managed to get dressed and find some nylons to wear to church. (Happy, happy day!) I did have to choose to wear brown instead of something that required black shoes as Sox, not only has good "taste" in library books, but good "taste" in shoes as well, preferring black to brown and real leather to fake on any given day. I even managed to get out the door ten minutes early. WOOHOO!
Except that the car wouldn't start and I sold my back up car and none of my neighbors were up to give me a jump. I finally got the neighbors at the end of the street to give me a jump. I went to the parts place nearest the church and tried to cover my anxiety as a new battery cost me almost $100. OUCH!!!!! I could have gone to Wal-Mart but by the time I discovered how much the new one would be at this place I had laready turned off the car and it was TOOOOOOO late.
I got to church in time for the end of Sacrament service. I dropped numerous things while I was still in the parking lot and even managed to accidentally set off my "panic" button, which of course took severl tries to turn off. I got into church in time to realize that it was the end of testimony meeting, which means that I had fogotten to fast. I went to Sunday school and cried because I miss my kids so very much, but was able to contribute a little to the meeting, I even understood much of what was said. (I go to church in Spanish) I even got a hug from the cutest single guy in our ward. (who is too young for me and SO not interested, but he does have sweet kids) .
I even managed to get through my lesson for young women, the one I had tried to teach twice but Satan seemed determined that I should not. I still come out of there feeling as though I talk too much. The girls talked more today and I hope it was at least partially a discussion. They are very cool young ladies.
Whoops! I guess do overs don't make your brain work any better. I accidentally left the bathroom door open and the trash that I picked up this morning was lovingly spread all over the upstairs hallway and bathroom again. As I came downstairs to continue here Sox came in to join me and jumped up on the bed with wet feet from swimming in her kiddie pool. I decided that I needed some comfort Kool-aid and found that I had run out of Lemon-Lime, so have had to make due with Strawberry-Kiwi. **sigh**
The last fun thing that happened this morning was that my neighbor called and left a message on my cell while I was in church that two of my dogs had managed to get out of the fence. YAY!Fortuanately, the neighbor who helped me this morning had given me their phine number, something I am sure they now regret, so I could call them and by the time I got most of the way home, they had put the dogs back in. My heroes! She was going to a funeral and had "nothing" to wear so I gave her my simple black dress that is too small. The poor dear will probably swim in the thing, but was gracious enough to accept it with thanks. Some people are just too nice. I still can't figure out how the two juvenile deliquent dogs escaped, but I have blocked their only apparent escape route.
Is it too early for bed?
I got out of be and started my day by cleaning up a mess tha tone of my dogs had left in the hall. They never mess in the house. Then I swept up the mess that one of the dogs had made sorting through the trash looking for items of culinary interest. That one was my fault for leaving such interesting items within reach.
I went downstiars and started laundry in my washer that leaks profusely and proceeded to make the food for my dinner, fortunately, I managed not to burn anything. My laundry went okay and I even managed to get dressed and find some nylons to wear to church. (Happy, happy day!) I did have to choose to wear brown instead of something that required black shoes as Sox, not only has good "taste" in library books, but good "taste" in shoes as well, preferring black to brown and real leather to fake on any given day. I even managed to get out the door ten minutes early. WOOHOO!
Except that the car wouldn't start and I sold my back up car and none of my neighbors were up to give me a jump. I finally got the neighbors at the end of the street to give me a jump. I went to the parts place nearest the church and tried to cover my anxiety as a new battery cost me almost $100. OUCH!!!!! I could have gone to Wal-Mart but by the time I discovered how much the new one would be at this place I had laready turned off the car and it was TOOOOOOO late.
I got to church in time for the end of Sacrament service. I dropped numerous things while I was still in the parking lot and even managed to accidentally set off my "panic" button, which of course took severl tries to turn off. I got into church in time to realize that it was the end of testimony meeting, which means that I had fogotten to fast. I went to Sunday school and cried because I miss my kids so very much, but was able to contribute a little to the meeting, I even understood much of what was said. (I go to church in Spanish) I even got a hug from the cutest single guy in our ward. (who is too young for me and SO not interested, but he does have sweet kids) .
I even managed to get through my lesson for young women, the one I had tried to teach twice but Satan seemed determined that I should not. I still come out of there feeling as though I talk too much. The girls talked more today and I hope it was at least partially a discussion. They are very cool young ladies.
Whoops! I guess do overs don't make your brain work any better. I accidentally left the bathroom door open and the trash that I picked up this morning was lovingly spread all over the upstairs hallway and bathroom again. As I came downstairs to continue here Sox came in to join me and jumped up on the bed with wet feet from swimming in her kiddie pool. I decided that I needed some comfort Kool-aid and found that I had run out of Lemon-Lime, so have had to make due with Strawberry-Kiwi. **sigh**
The last fun thing that happened this morning was that my neighbor called and left a message on my cell while I was in church that two of my dogs had managed to get out of the fence. YAY!Fortuanately, the neighbor who helped me this morning had given me their phine number, something I am sure they now regret, so I could call them and by the time I got most of the way home, they had put the dogs back in. My heroes! She was going to a funeral and had "nothing" to wear so I gave her my simple black dress that is too small. The poor dear will probably swim in the thing, but was gracious enough to accept it with thanks. Some people are just too nice. I still can't figure out how the two juvenile deliquent dogs escaped, but I have blocked their only apparent escape route.
Is it too early for bed?
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