April 15, 2008

• …I’m going on a spring ramble…

                          

  ….rambling about the countryside, and rambling about loss, loons and lu lu.

                             

  Spring is the season of renewal. That eternal promise is what sees us through the long, dark, cold winter. We know the rewards of endurance and of waiting will be new life, renewed beauty and a fresh start. It comes as a surprise, even a shock, then, when this much-awaited season turns into a time of loss.

  In the last two weeks, I’ve received three phone calls that I wish I had not had to answer. The first told of the sudden death of a very special man, beloved throughout our town and county. Dave was our local funeral director, and as such, he was a friend to everyone. Not just anyone can do the job that Dave was called to do. It takes a man with a tender heart to deal with grieving families, and our Dave was that man. His smile gave comfort when one most needed it. His job was much more than a paid position; it was truly his calling. At 53, we expected Dave to be with us for several more decades, but that was not the plan.

  The next day, I was again called to the phone with tragic news. The husband of my best friend, also called Dave, had also just suffered a fatal heart attack. As I rushed to her side to offer what little help I could give, I tried to put myself into her shoes and thought that “widow” is a word I just couldn’t comprehend, not if it applied to a 56-year-old girl who still acts just as she did when we entered kindergarten, grade school, high school and college together. Sue Ann’s Dave was the picture of health, an intellectual, a world traveler who relished every minute of life. Whether he was pulling a fish from the Gulf, greeting a Chinese businessman or driving an old tractor on his wife’s family’s Brush Ranch, you knew Dave would be wearing a smile. At 61, we expected Dave to be around for a long, long time, enjoying every minute of whatever direction his life took.

  The next week, the phone rang again. By this time, I’m dreading to answer, but it is relentless. The words hurt, again. A friend from Mississippi, Charlie was a volunteer fireman who has answered the call to help others since he was a boy. He was helping to put out a fire in the wood shop of the local vo-tech school when chest pains began. Although Charlie drove himself to the hospital, he only made it into the door before his life ended. Twenty years have passed since Charlie and his family were part of our everyday lives, but memories make it seem like only yesterday. Our children simply adored Mr. Charlie. This man’s face also wore a perpetual smile. Dealing with the public in the grocery, dry cleaning or restaurant business might make some sour on people, but not Charlie. He was always ready to lend a hand, be a friend, do for others.

  So much loss in such a short time made me wonder, how can it be spring? And yet, spring is here.

  

  It has come in all its glory.The grass is lush and green, the flowers are blooming, the ducks are calling to each other across the lake,

                              

   the redbuds are just about ready to be upstaged by my adored dogwoods,

                                

  and there is even the desire to laze away an afternoon, to walk down to the water, put a wiggly worm on a hook and watch for a tug on the bobber. One’s heart cannot help but feel just a little lift.  

  And then I remember. Jesus died in the spring, too. Loss in this season of spring has always been and always will be. And it will always be helped and healed by the promises that accompany it. The promises of resurrection, new life, renewal and rebirth.

  Sometimes spring even brings too much of a good thing! This dock needs water to float, but enough already!

   

                                  

  Perhaps you’ve heard that our part of the country has been getting a lot of rain. It’s been a real feast of rain here, with lakes plumb full.

   

  

  Usually, there is a steep, deep drop-off down to the water, but not now! Those are tree-tops sticking out near the edge of the water! I’ve never seen all 16 gates open at once on Bull Shoals Dam! But isn’t it pretty?

                                    

  And speaking of pretty, our little Lu-lu is growing up (much too quickly to suit this Mimi!) This recent picture shows that she’s no longer our baby but a grown-up little girl.

  I don’t get time these days to make many comments on your site, but I do check in often and enjoy seeing what is going on with all my xanga friends. Hope your spring days are healing, sunny, bright and blooming!

                                

   

   

   

  • 4:28 pm
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