Life in Our World - Fitting

 

You know how some names just fit people?  Like mine.  Plain Jane.  It suits me perfectly.  I like bland food, muted colors, and simple things.  I find comfort in my name.

Meet Angel.  She's standing next to Cali in the picture.  They both worked at the same insurance office before Cali went away to college and Angel quit working to stay at home with a new baby.

This week we went to McDonald's and saw Angel.  Neither Cali nor I had seen her for a few years. Angel introduced us to her children.  All of them.  She and her husband have adopted 7 children since we last saw her.  The oldest is seven years old.

Angel had taken all 7 to the dentist earlier that morning and then brought them to McDonald's "to eat and get the wiggles out" so that she could take them to Wal-Mart and buy groceries before driving home.  Her girls wore little dresses, her boys collared shirts.  They were so happy and well-mannered.  Angel told us the stories of how they got each child, and how she teaches and nurtures them now.  It was inspiring.

As we left her I thought how fitting it was her mother named her Angel.  She's incredible and so is what she is doing with her little family.

Our dishwasher finally quit this week.  It's been threatening to for a few years, but it finally followed through this week.  If only it had let me know it didn't feel good before I loaded it to the gills.  But, it could be worse. There are only two of us now, we've lived several years without one before, and this one was fairly pathetic as it was.  It was fitting that this was the appliance to go since washing dishes is the homemaking chore I like most, next to vacuuming.

Joe and Ande gave Calvin the gift of Graze for his birthday.  Every two weeks a package like this comes in the mail.  He loves it when they arrive and it is a very fitting gift for a snacker.

This made me laugh.  I think Word also sees some of the words I use and says, "Dude. Do you even know what that word means?  It does not mean what you think it means and it definitely does not fit in this sentence."

Our good friend Betty Lou died and her funeral was today.  Betty Lou was 92.  It was a great funeral with lots of anecdotes.  One of my favorites was that she played Cinderella with her granddaughters. One granddaughter liked to be the wicked step-mother and boss Cinderella around.  Betty Lou hurried from task to task to please her.  Betty Lou fiercely loved her children and grandchildren.  It was a good thing there were Kleenexes in my purse.  I laughed and cried as her family spoke of her love for them.

I will miss Betty Lou, especially since I've gone to see her most every week for several years now.  Her eyesight began failing badly a few years ago so, before she entered assisted living and while she still lived at home, I sat on a stool by her feet so my face was in the light and she could see me.  I learned a lot, literally at her knees, in those visits.  One time when I was vexed she said, "I learned a little phrase once, 'Let go and let God' and it's helped me.  Just remember that.  I think it will help you."

A generous woman, she also gave our family many gifts.  Soon after our granddaughter Clara died she gave me a pink peony plant and said, "Plant this and it will bloom every year about Memorial Day so you'll have something to put on her grave."  She gave a gift to Abe and Grace at that time, too.  She called Nordstrom's and asked them to ship a package of something for a baby boy in the latest fashion.  Nordstrom's sent designer jeans, shoes, socks, and a shirt all prettily wrapped in a silver package with a blue bow.  Betty Lou had lost a child of her own and she knew how Grace was grieving.  That gift of a little boy's outfit was wrapped hope and trust in God. It was very fitting, and meant the world to Grace.  In fact, she showed me the little outfit again a couple of weeks ago, now washed and ready for their new baby that will come any day.

 
Our week had many fitting things in it.  How about you?  How was your week?