Tonight I had what might be called a genuine brush with mortality. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s a situation where I have never been.
I have an aunt who is in the golden years of life. She is my mother’s sister. When I was younger, I would spend a week or two of my summers with she and my uncle. When I was in a very difficult place in my life several years ago, she graciously opened her home and provided me a place to live. I have always been able to share things with her, and she with me…whether it be things happening in our lives, or feelings about situations others (friends and family) were in. We can just sit and talk. I have often considered our aunt/nephew relationship to be unique in that way.
When I saw her this evening, I found out she had been to a doctor’s appointment earlier in the day. She had gotten some news that literally shook her. I won’t get into the details of it, but I will say it’s not good news.
As I came into the room, she was on the edge of the bed talking on the phone. It’s a king bed so I just stretched out and waited for her to finish her conversation. I could tell she was having a difficult time and at one point, she reached out and I held her hand.
As she hung up the phone, she began to share with me some of the sadness she was feeling. She told me of some things about which she was worried. She expressed how she wished she had done a lot of things differently. She cried, I cried. I have never seen her this way and it moved me.
I know for a fact she has lived a wholesome and righteous life. She has set the example for others I can only wish I had been able to do. I can only wish that when I am in my golden years that I have the kind of relationship with my spouse that she and my uncle have.
I reminded her that everything happens in His time, not ours. I illustrated it by telling her how I had come there for one reason, but ended up just being there for her to just talk to. Neither she nor I had anything to do with it. God knew that I needed to be there at that particular point in time. We could not have humanly known it!! I feel like my presence was needed, yet neither of us knew beforehand why I happened to decide at the last minute to be where she was at that point in time.
I know she is going thru a difficult time with the decisions ahead, and all I can do is simply be there to listen as she shares. After all, listening is what I do best.
