A Morning Visit

Do you ever see someone and think, "There is someone that I would like to get to know better?" You just have a feeling that you could be friends. It's a smile, or a nod...the way they care about people...just something that tells you that you would like to chat with them and get to know them better. That's how I felt about Elizabeth....when I was first introduced to her at Church. I had just had brain surgery and was at Mass for the first time, with my head shaved. She came up to to me and held my hand for the longest time......I could see in her eyes that she cared.Every week...she did the same thing.  Later on she had surgery on her face and I was given the chance to do the same.  I think that our surgeries made us understand each other...how hard it was for us to have face people when we were feeling so unattractive.

Sometimes I make plans ahead of time and then life just gets in the way and plans have to be changed over and over. This is what happened to me at Thanksgiving time this year. I planned to visit her at her home... and then illness, weather and the  holidays kept us from following through. I got a call this week to come for a visit. It was so cold yesterday and my "inner hibernating animal"...didn't really want to venture out. I am so glad that I did. This lady is 10 yrs. older than I am. She lives just up the road in a house that I have admired since I moved here. The house is back off the road on a peacefully wooded lot.. with gardens all around. I showed pictures of her coneflowers here on my blog before. They go all across the front of her property and are so lovely in the late summer. The spring brings daffodils...thousands of them sprinkled every where. Well, enough about the gardens...I was to come in the morning after Mass.When I arrived, the front door opened and there stood my friend beckoning me in. "Hurry...it's so cold." I could hear the excited noises coming from her two precious West Highland Terriers. They were confined to the sun room. I entered the cozy room and a table was set by the window...with a light breakfast. The house was decorated with greens and berries and a small tree with white lights and crocheted angels. A little Christmas left to keep the house bright and pretty on cold winter's days. Sitting at the table...we looked out the window and the falling snow. As Joe said yesterday, " It looked like a snow globe that had just been shaken." The dogs had been released from their room and they were so excited to have company.She shared a cookie with them. After eating...we went to the chairs by the fireplace and enjoyed a nice cozy fire...talking about our lives and getting acquainted. Her dear  husband of many years had passed away this year...I could tell that she spends many lonely hours there in their home now... even though family and friends are wonderful to her. We found that we share many interests...reading, knitting, flowers, and cooking. As we sat, two little pals climbed up on our laps. There we sat...two women with a little white dogs on our laps. It was time for me to go...I  had been there for more than 3 hours. She wanted me to stay longer...and we kept talking about one topic and another delaying my exit...I could have stayed there all afternoon. A quick tour of the house, before leaving...showing me her paintings from her family home in Munich.As we went through the house...I noticed that there are floor to ceiling windows everywhere looking out on the gardens. Such a beautiful view where ever you looked. I was thinking how beautiful it would be through all the seasons. I asked her where she liked to go to lunch...and she said in her soft voice, "Home...I like to eat at home." So I promised to come again soon, but that I would bring a picnic lunch when the weather was warm...she said that we could eat out on the porch...It's a special date to put on the calendar.

Balisha