Healing Well

Today was a great day. I said yesterday that I needed just one great day and I guess God was listening. I baked pumpkin bread last night and dropped off a loaf of it on my mom's doorstep on the way to soccer. Baxter was finishing up his 10K in Peachtree City as we headed over there. Soccer this morning was better than average with all the sunshine and the surprise return of Baxter a little ahead of schedule. Then, we did a little housework, picked up lunch and headed to my mother's. Eating with her seems to cheer her up a lot. It is nice for her not to have to make anything since she was a "short order cook" for so long. We had a nice lunch and then the kids started playing. Of course, they never want to leave if Jordan is over there. We ended up over there for most of the afternoon and all evening. While Baxter and my brother tried to fix our broken hot water heater, the kids and I raked my mom's yard. The last time I blew off the driveway and sidewalk was on the day daddy died. Actually, that is what I was doing the moment he died.

If you didn't know my dad, you wouldn't know that raking leaves and tinkering around the yard was one of his favorite things. The neighbors would always see him outside raking through the Fall. It might have taken him all day to do one little area, but he was out there - getting his "exercise." That day, I was deep in thought, thinking about the fact that my dad was in bed and I was blowing the leaves instead of him. I was actually doing it for him - so that we could get him into the car without worrying about acorns and sticks tripping us up. I was also wondering what the doctors would tell us once we got him to the hospital. My brother pulled up as I was finishing, went inside briefly and then hurried home to change so we could take him. I was turning off the leaf blower when Ford came running down to tell me that "Papa Don isn't breathing." I dropped it and ran, got into the room and tried to take his vital signs. Once I realized there was no pulse, I started CPR and told the kids to run and get Uncle Jimbo. He arrived in a minute and I told him to call 911. There was some shock and confusion. It took both of us a minute to react. First me, coming in from the leaves. Then him, unsure that he was hearing what I had just said. He called. They arrived. He was gone before they got there. I imagine that he was above me briefly as I performed his usual chore. I think he knew we would all be there to take care of things now - that he didn't have to worry about these earthly things anymore.

Today as I walked that path and cleared it once again, I did not feel any sadness. I felt an extreme sense of oneness with creation, with duty, with family, and with God. The kids helped me rake with his rakes, the leaves that he would have been happily raking - and I was happy to rake them as I've never been happy to rake before! They jumped in the big crispy piles and laughed so joyously that I considered bruising my own behind with a jump in the pile. But, knowing my high rate of injury whenever I try to act like a kid again, decided against it. Besides, just watching them was wonderful enough. I do miss my daddy not being there but what I have here is so great. God is so great. His blessings are great and even though today was not particularly special, it was a great day.