For all that Life Might Bring

Barely weighing 70 pounds with a delicate, aristocratic face framed by perfectly coiffed grey hair, my 95-year-old Aunt Sarah was always dressed and ready for company.

Glasses perched on her nose, she was starched from head to toe. In fact, Aunt Sarah even starched her sheets! When she died this past spring, she was the last of an elegant generation of Finches on my dad’s side. Ian and I would stop and visit with her on our way to Dallas, but we didn’t get up there very often. Once, her caregiver told us that every morning Aunt Sarah would wake up and dress and then wait for someone to come and visit. She’d sit in her chair and wait and wait and wait. 

Most of her friends had died, her husband and child were dead, and very few people came to visit. The caregiver told us that Aunt Sarah never understood why people didn’t come.  But still she waited and hoped they would. 

We were visitors in Aunt Sarah’s life, but her caregiver of 20 years, Louise, was her family who helped her dress and get ready every day for all that life might bring. 

I’ve prayed that God always bring forth the vision of Aunt Sarah – starched and waiting for company – whenever a relative or a friend or an acquaintance flashes through my mind, a reminder to pick up the phone and make a call, say a prayer, or drop a note. A reminder that relationships are important.  And a reminder that we may never know how important that phone call or prayer or note might be in helping someone else in God’s family get ready for all that life might bring.