Community Again

     We helped a neighbour get a wandering steer back to where it belonged today. Trust me when I say I did nothing; our daughters and I just watched and kept track of the proceedings, although my husband did get involved.  What impressed me was the number of neighbours who stopped and did what they could to help. Everyone is so busy and on a Saturday afternoon, most folks have something going on---- if not now, then later. But that's the kind of neighbourhood that we live in. If you need help, there is somebody there to do just that.
     That doesn't even cover the other kindnesses that are constantly happening: invitations for get-togethers, gifts for our daughters at special times of the year, recycling collected and delivered for our eldest daughter's choir fund-raising, escaped horses corralled and returned in the middle of the night, egg boxes, soup labels and bottle caps religiously collected and delivered, banana bread and other goodies baked and brought over, extra fruits and vegetables shared, bulbs and other plants dug up and given, even clothes passed on....the list is endless. The bounty is generous and enormous and much appreciated.
     In a world where people are frantic and struggling and sometimes totally overwhelmed, we feel we live in a little pocket of heaven....where people smile and are nice, a neighbourhood both rural and close, where folks have time for each other and if not, they make time.

Thank God

     Our elder daughter spent a week this summer at a day camp with other developmentally disabled kids and really enjoyed it. She made a friend and some good connections with an organization which does incredible work in our community. One thing our daughter learnt during that week was life changing. Thursday afternoon as I picked her up she said: "I thought that God had made a mistake when he made me and now I know I'm just the way I'm supposed to be."
     We all spend time wishing we were different, our lives were altered somehow, our circumstances changed. What a gift it is to be accepting, faithful, sure that we are who we are supposed to be, in the life we are meant to be living, just the way God planned for us, in the knowledge of and with thanks for God's amazing grace.
     I certainly have railed against Him, everything and everyone, wondering why her, why us. I have replayed her birth in my mind questioning decisions I made and blaming myself for how my daughter is burdened in this life. Perhaps, I too can come to the realization that all of our lives are just the way they are supposed to be, nothing more and nothing less, and thank God for that.

Community

     When you live in a community for a long time you get to know the folks that own or work at the businesses that you frequent. Whether it's your dentist, or your doctor's receptionist, your favourite pizza place or the pharmacy where your prescriptions are filled, it's the people that make going there worthwhile and sometimes even fun. One of our daughters' favourite people is our pharmacist. The pharmacy where he works is a smaller, family-run business. He and his father have looked after our medicinal needs since we've been a family and his mother is the nice lady at the front of the shop. Our girls have known this family since they were babies and love going there. I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that our purchases sometimes include lollipops that he's sneaked in there for them. He also buys them something at Christmas time. What they really love though is getting to go behind the counter: "the backstage pass" and listening to the silly jokes he tells them.  He shares the latest antic that his little niece has been up to on FaceTime. And he asks them about what they've been doing and listens to the answer. He makes them feel like special customers and they like that.
     What I like is that no matter the situation, serious medical situation or not, we feel cared for as people. Our health sometimes depends on this family and they do a terrific job. I have never felt that personal level of service at the bigger chain pharmacies. When you think about it, a pharmacist knows things about you and your family that you might not even share with the best of friends. Their knowledge is key to your health; their experience with combining certain medicines and supplements for example, is crucial. All I know is that we couldn't imagine having our prescriptions filled anywhere else. Where else could we go and get such great service, happy smiles and a silly joke too?