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| The story of a life |
But this morning is beautiful. It is so odd for it to be this cool in Florida in May. I need to embrace it, because as much as I love living in Florida, I do not embrace the heat and humidity. Today is one of those morning where I just wanted to stay outside. But, at almost 9 am - it was time to come in!
Embrace the moments. Yes.
Perhaps I prepared myself to expect yesterday to be a hard one, and so it was. Maybe it was going to be hard anyway. Maybe it is just supposed to be that way.
Even with the sadness of the day, it still had plenty of laughter. And that was very good!
While we waited for dinner last night, this little Chinese "take-out" box was placed on a platter before me. Like Emily, I thought it was food. A new appetizer?
The words on the box told me that most people tell stories with words, but this was a story told with jewelry. Of course, I did not get it. Bit by bit, I pulled the pieces from the box. A monocle on a chain? A magnifying glass on a chain? What was this?
Piece by piece, I unwrapped a treasure. A key. A tree. A bunny? No...it was upside down...a girl with pigtails - one for Kristin and one for Karin. A cross. A red cardinal. A flag. And...a firefighters maltese cross. And finally a piece of pressed copper. A shield penny, they said.
Oh! It was telling a story!
As we assembled the pieces I saw that the Cross is what brought us together. It's a long story but it has to do with a very special Pastor of mine, a church member store manager, and a job. (Maybe that will be an anniversary day post!)
Roger was a firefighter for 52 years. He never retired. How appropriate to include the firefighter's emblem. He was our hero, our protector, and he was always on the alert for danger. Saftey First!
And they did not even know it, but Emily pointed out to me in the afternoon that Ocoee Engine 39 was driving past our corner. What a fun birthday surprise. I'm glad she was more observant than I!
We had two beautiful girls. What a gift! Part of his great legacy.
We love our country and as much as we loved to travel, there was no place like home. In the USA. And he believed in the principles upon which this country was founded. "IN GOD" he always trusted.
One thing we loved in the place where we live was watching the cardinals every spring. This year the yard seemed to be filled with cardinals. There were many days after Feb 10 when I would open the garage door and many cardinals would take off flying What were they doing in the garage? I had never seen that before! They flew out of cubbyholes and from nooks and crannies in the shelving. Certainly they could not be building nests there. (I will find that out when I face up to cleaning out the garage one day - maybe in the fall) I finally discovered that they had been pulling fibers from my coconut hull baskets! Nest building, indeed! They were building homes, like we did.
And since, I have enjoyed the baby cardinals and continue to see the bright red male cardinals. Interestingly, yesterday I was walking the dog and happened to be thinking that I had not seen cardinals for a while. While standing still, waiting on the dog, I spotted a red cardinal on the ground eating berries from the camphor tree. I just watched. He busied himself and did not fly away. He was less than 6 feet away from me but did not fly away! When a car passed by, he moved to a nearby branch, and then to the brick mailbox across the street. I just watched him for a very long time. He would eat and then look at me. Eat some more and look at me. It brought a smile and laughter as I though of Roger in a red shirt, eating and wondered if this bird might be looking to me to bring the mayonnaise! Ha...crazy thought. Our red cardinals will always remind me of Roger and perhaps I will remember to be still and just observe and listen....and remember the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Brother Bill used to say that all the time and I love that phrase from the Bible - it means a lot more today than it ever did though)
The key - oh it opens things. It reminds me that it opens doors of opportunity. It opens doors to your home, your means of transportation, your place of work. You hear it referred to as a key to knowledge. A key is a pretty important material possession. It opens a lot of things you need on this journey. It also is representative of someone holding the key to your heart. I collect keys and I love unusual and very old keys. They tell a story. This special key tells the story of the man I love.
And the tree. Roger loved his trees and would never of his own accord have one taken down. We just lived that tree episode a week or two ago. And Mike gave us that new tree...that live oak. The one that can weather the storms. The back of that little charm says "Life is a gift." How appropriate.
The little copper disc is representative of the shield pennies that we watch for. It is pressed really thin and on the back, it is embossed with "Always." Not only will Roger be with us always, Christ will be with us always and help us through the ups and downs, the laugher and tears.
We tell a story with jewelry. How precious. How unique is this special necklace.
What a beautiful ending for a very difficult day. I will treasure this always and it is indeed a new day, and a new beginning, but Roger will be here ALWAYS because you don't live a good and godly life and become forgotten.
Roger's Lesson: Oh he would say to get over the tears. He would say to focus on the key.
The key he would point to is to a 'door' and the only door that really matters, not only in this earthly life but for eternity.
"For I stand at the door and knock - and if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in...." (Rev 3:20)
But in order to hear - you have to be still and you have to be listening. (And often times, that does not happen until you are flat on your back, looking up) And of course, faith is involved.
"For I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father except by Me."
Like it or not, no matter what this world has to say or offer. God is the one who has the final say. And this is what He said...not us.
Who holds the key to your heart? Roger holds the key to my earthly love and inspires me even as he is in eternity now. Jesus holds the key to my heart though, as he did for Roger. Roger is enjoying the fullness of His presence right now, and I will one day.
Until then, I will keep on collecting keys, and seeing what opportunities God still has before me. It will be a different experience from now on, but with Christ, every single day holds something new to enjoy. Ups and downs. He is always there. Always.
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