An Unforgettable Delivery

I love beautiful flowers! Mostly, I like the kind that are blooming in flower beds and around my garden fence rather than the expensive florist delivery ones. Don't get me wrong though--I'd love to have anyone bring me flowers, and if the doorbell rang right now, I'd accept them in a flash! But if it's my husband doing the buying, I'd rather he put the money towards a redbud tree or a hydrangea bush or a mum that will last a lot longer than a few days.

One day several years ago a beautiful bouquet was delivered to my home which I will never forget...

Her name was Salena, and she was a beautiful 60-something grandma. I, and several of her other friends, took turns spending afternoons helping with various chores around her home. My particular job was a fun one--helping her make a scrapbook of memories week after week. Those were sweet, sweet days of precious fellowship, and we made the most of every minute we had.

Salena was dying with Lou Gehrig's disease and gradually losing more and more muscle strength. Her one goal was finishing a scrapbook for her grandchild who would never have a chance to know and love her. One afternoon I was helping her with some personal needs and lost my strength lifting her. Ending up lying on the floor, she was unmoveable. There was nothing to do but hunt for a listing of neighbors' phone numbers and hope someone would be home to come over and help me. I still feel the embarrassment now as I write this--embarrassment for her lying there so vulnerable and embarrassment for me--a big blow to my pride in failing so miserably to help her.

Can you guess the end of the story?  The beautiful flowers Salena sent me the next day expressed what a classy lady she truly was. She was the one who should have gotten flowers for enduring so much, and yet she sent me flowers to encourage me and let me know everything was still alright with her world. The florist's card read..."To a real trooper."

Not me for sure--but Salena was a trooper of all troopers, and I expect she's adding fragrance to heaven right now with her wonderful personality!

This post was written for the Carnival of Beauty with the theme: the Beauty of Flowers. To read more on this subject, be sure and visit Amanda over at Following an Unknown Path on Wednesday, March 29, as she hosts the Carnival this week .

~Deb

Comments

[Chris]

WOW Deb! How vividly I remember those days. You are so right when you called her a "classy lady". Even in her difficult day to day trial she was seeking to let the light of the Lord shine through her.What a blessing she was to everyone who went to cheer HER up, she ended up cheering US up!!! I must agree that serving her was a real blessing, a once-in-a-life time opportunity that leaves you feeling overwhelmingly touched by the Lord's grace, mercy, love and compassion!! I enjoyed your post, what sweet memories! Thanks

[amanda p. wu]

Your telling of this story brought tears to my eyes! Thanks for sharing it!!

[crickl's nest]

Very sweet memory. Thanks for sharing it! I was just visiting some elderly ladies from church at their retirement center today and wondering what my life might look like at that time of life. I hope I am as gracious and sweet as your Salena!

Christie

[Randi]

That is such a neat story, Deb! I got a little teary eyed reading it.

[Deb]

Thank you everyone for commenting and stopping by to visit.

(Thanks, Randi, for answering my question.)

[Blair]

Oh wow - what a sweet story! She sounds like she was one amazing lady. thank you for sharing this with us Deb.

[Deb]

What a nice story! I know you were a blessing to Salena. Just imagine how precious that scrapbook will be for her grandchild.
Glad I found your blog through the carnival.
From another Deb

[Deb]

Blair and Deb...thank you both for visiting Mountain Musings for the Carnival of Beauty and for leaving a comment. Stop by again if you'd like. :)