I went to my friend Karla's home today to visit teach. She has MS, and is in a wheelchair - she's lost all feeling from the waist down, and has been laying flat on her back for the past two weeks because she has a bad wound on her derriere. Her faithful dog Mel lays right next to her in bed, and I brought Cecily because she likes to watch Sesame Street and cautiously watch Mel's antics. Though Karla has been flat on her back and will be for about a month, and the only way she can move or do anything is with help, she is the picture of cheerfulness and fun. She has her really down times too, and a few weeks ago said she felt like it would be so much easier if the Lord were to just take her away. She said that it is a humble pill to swallow to have so many people come in and take care of her, and to not feel like she is giving anything back, but she has learned over time that the act of letting people serve her is helping them. After I left her totally uplifted, I understood what it means to let other people serve you, and the benefits it gives you. She just bought the movie "Night at the Museum" so that families will come and visit her and watch it with her on the bed on her big screen T.V. She is also almost blind due to the illness, and can't read. I read the Ensign articles she wanted to hear, and though she is almost living a perfect life now, she treated each article like it was something precious to her, and it was! Anyway - she helps me be a better person each time I visit, and I go home and look at my worries, and they seem very small in comparison. I read a quote in a magazine that said "Worry is the rust of life" That is so true - life is too short to spend it stressing & worrying. I think we'll take the family up next week and watch a movie.
Rhett called and gave some really interesting thoughts about life in the Ukraine, like due to an energy shortage, they are not able to heat their buildings, and they only use lights sparingly in rooms, every other light is off. Rhett said he didn't bring a good coat, and he is freezing his tushy off. In the countryside, many people are still using old woooden hand plows to plant crops, and he watched them putting in the seeds by hand, just like in the 1800's here. He said the cities are modern, like Kiev, and many of the attractive young women flock there and dress/look like models to attract western bachelors for husbands. He said that Chernoblyl is an eerie ghost town, and he'll post pictures soon. He'll be home tomorrow night. I guess I'm just really seeing my blessings today!
7 comments:
You're a wonderful friend to Karla. It's hard to see people have to go through sickness like that and her strength is admirable.
It reminds me that the day-to-day things I fret about aren't nearly as important as I sometimes make them. Seeing people go those challenges like that helps put things in better perspective.
That is really cool that you have a friend like her. It's always nice to go be refreshed by people that are so positive and have such a good outlook on life.
I really need to be more like that in my life. It's so true that this life was meant for us to be happy.
Thanks for that blog. I really needed that positive outlook.
Good story, I think that's funny that you bought her "Night at the Museum" of all movies so that people would come over and watch it with her. I can just picture Cecily cautiously watching her dog.
What a wonderful uplifting blog, Melecia! That is a great idea to involve your children in visiting Karla. One of the reasons, among many, that your family is so special has to do with experiences you've had dealing with people's trauma. I'm thinking of Olivia and Cecily having open heart surgery when they were babies. Your family prayer and visits brought you closer. That has positively effected all members of our family, and has helped us see how we need to turn our lives over to the Lord. My experience recently visiting an old friend in Longmont United Hospital really brought me closer to the realization of how fragile, yet resiliant we are, in the face of disease and death. The best thing I did with him was toward the end of his two month hospitalization. I talked the medical staff into letting him go outside in a wheel chair and enjoy the sunshine. He was so excited he managed to bathe and dress himself in preparation for that short 20 minute trip. Even though his joy was so apparent, it was your dad who benefitted the most. Love you.
Thank you so much, Melecia, for sharing. You truly lived the V. T. message this month. One of the things I love most about visiting teaching is what you expressed: We all have the heart to serve; Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching give us opportunities to do that.
I really admire you and Karla. You're both pretty special, you know. I can relate to the gifts it brings you both. Interesting that I also have someone with MS on my route. She's not as ill as Karla, but needs help with housecleaning, etc. She was taking an on-line college English course and needed help with the grammar and punctuation part, so she and I had tons of fun with that. I think Heavenly Father often blesses those with handicaps with extra "personality" genes to bless others and make them happy, don't you?
Thanks for the uplifting blog Melecia.
Sometimes I think we all get bogged down with the basics of life and forget to look outside ourselves and look at the blessings that are so abundant that we take them for granted.
Enjoy having your family all together again!!
P. S. Jim is so jealous about the Cherobyl visit and can't wait to talk to Rhett about his observations. Jim was working with using robotics in movement and storage of nuclear material when Chernobyl happened. He's very interested in hearing from someone who has actually been there.
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