Today we received word that a dear friend has hours, at most, left on this earth. Over the past five years as she has battled her illness, we have reached out with prayers requests. There have been many heart-touching kindnesses shown along the way that have lifted and cheered us. Sometimes kindnesses appear when we least expect them and in most unexpected ways.
One such thing occurred just two days ago. I went into a local chocolate shop called Sugar Daddy Desserts. I thought I was strong until the owner was ready to wait on me. When he looked up to ask, "May I help you?" I broke as I said, "I'm hurting." You see, I knew the background story of his life. He had lost his wife, the mother of his children, to breast cancer. The story was recently written in our local newspaper.
I pulled myself together enough to show him my friend's picture, explain the circumstances, and say I had hoped the young woman I'd seen working in the back room could tell me what kind of chocolates my friend usually bought. He said, "Just a minute," as he scurried to get her." In what seemed like seconds, they both returned on my side of the counter, loving empathy in their eyes. He said, "This is my daughter, Michelle."
I explained I'd known her from having met her years before at the church we attend, but I didn't realize she was his daughter. The tension of the sorrow was somewhat relieved as he lightly joked about their keeping that a secret. She expressed her sympathy at my circumstances, while adding regret that she didn't recall my friend's choices. I said I'd look for something to take anyway. After asking my friend's favorite color, Michelle excused herself "to the back room for a few moments." I heard her dad quietly say something to her, finishing with, "Do whatever you want."
In the meantime, I found a chocolate block to take and selected a wooden rose, and waited. The shop gives a wooden rose to each lady on each visit, so by now my friend had a pretty good co
llection.
When Michelle returned, again to my side of the counter, she carried a beautifully wrapped, in florist-style, bouquet of at least a dozen of those wooden roses...shades of pink...my friend's favorite color! When Michelle had asked earlier, it had gone over my head as being perhaps some special chocolate treat trimmed in pink she was preparing for me to take to my friend.
I once read something to the effect that you have to weep before you can dry another's tears. These people certainly knew how to take a gray day and add sunshine. I am thankful and wanted to share this message with you.
If you would like to say thank you to them, too, you can access their e-mail by visiting their site through this hyperlink: http://www.sugardaddydesserts.com/
©Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 1-28-2011
One such thing occurred just two days ago. I went into a local chocolate shop called Sugar Daddy Desserts. I thought I was strong until the owner was ready to wait on me. When he looked up to ask, "May I help you?" I broke as I said, "I'm hurting." You see, I knew the background story of his life. He had lost his wife, the mother of his children, to breast cancer. The story was recently written in our local newspaper.
I pulled myself together enough to show him my friend's picture, explain the circumstances, and say I had hoped the young woman I'd seen working in the back room could tell me what kind of chocolates my friend usually bought. He said, "Just a minute," as he scurried to get her." In what seemed like seconds, they both returned on my side of the counter, loving empathy in their eyes. He said, "This is my daughter, Michelle."
I explained I'd known her from having met her years before at the church we attend, but I didn't realize she was his daughter. The tension of the sorrow was somewhat relieved as he lightly joked about their keeping that a secret. She expressed her sympathy at my circumstances, while adding regret that she didn't recall my friend's choices. I said I'd look for something to take anyway. After asking my friend's favorite color, Michelle excused herself "to the back room for a few moments." I heard her dad quietly say something to her, finishing with, "Do whatever you want."
In the meantime, I found a chocolate block to take and selected a wooden rose, and waited. The shop gives a wooden rose to each lady on each visit, so by now my friend had a pretty good co
llection.When Michelle returned, again to my side of the counter, she carried a beautifully wrapped, in florist-style, bouquet of at least a dozen of those wooden roses...shades of pink...my friend's favorite color! When Michelle had asked earlier, it had gone over my head as being perhaps some special chocolate treat trimmed in pink she was preparing for me to take to my friend.
I once read something to the effect that you have to weep before you can dry another's tears. These people certainly knew how to take a gray day and add sunshine. I am thankful and wanted to share this message with you.
If you would like to say thank you to them, too, you can access their e-mail by visiting their site through this hyperlink: http://www.sugardaddydesserts.com/
©Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 1-28-2011
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