THE PHONE CALL AND THE MOON

Tonight I got a call from my across-the-street neighbor. She was incredibly busy all day, her back is giving her fits--pain constantly--she still has kids to bathe before getting them to bed--this was at 10:00 o'clock--but she made time out of her hectic evening to call me and tell me to go look at the moon and Venus. I did and it was spectacular. The moon is a crescent and the light from Venus was so bright you could see the outline of the darkened part of the moon. Who else would do this? Who else would take the time to call me and say, "Go outside and look." Especially when her day is a couple of hours from being done and she's already exhausted.

My life is filled with special people. Some are long distance. Some right next door. Some live in my house. Some are animals. Not as in "uncouth human beings," but real meowing and barking animals.

I'm tired tonight--the last time I looked at the clock last night it was 3:30 am. I don't know why I couldn't sleep but in 4 1/2 hours I was up. It's been a long day. But tonight, as I sit here in a stupor, I'm grateful for my friends, some of which are my own children or their spouses. One of our children and his wife took us to dinner on Saturday last week for Mother's Day and they brought me wonderful handmade watches--yes, plural--and the very next day another of our children had us to dinner--both meals were fabulous.

Then on Friday, she-who-shall-not-be-named called and said "Let's shop," I was delighted. (The reason she can't be named is because I don't want to embarrasses her--see my last post. What? It's already too late? The embarrassment is probably complete but then again, maybe she is laughing her head off.)

So, tonight, with my coughing rampant, my sinuses sending snot-knives into what's left of my brain (yes, shot-knives), my knees and elbows are saying, "if you eat one more piece of fudge we will refuse to work at all," and I have a sink full of dishes that I must deal with before bed, I just want to say that I hope you have friends and family as good as mine. And if you have animals like mine, well...bless your little heart.

PS In case you--at this moment in time--are feeling lonely and unloved I want you to know that I've had many of those days, even with a house full of family. There are days when the only friend I felt like I had could only be reached by prayer and I wasn't sure he was even listening. So, if this is how you feel please just hang on. The wheel turns, soon you will be on top, looking at the night sky with a heart full of gladness and a fistful of friends who you wouldn't trade for anything. Life will be full again. And I'll be on the bottom, spittin' dust. Probably with an animal or two, which may or may not be a blessing. And they might even be the uncouth kind.