The Quest

I woke this morning to an email from one of my Latvian friends. She is one of those people who instantly knew me, deep in my soul, as soon as we met. Has that ever happened to you? I've been lucky to have it happen many times in my life. In addition to the wonderfully strong women in my own family, I have felt the influence of powerful mentors throughout my life. I hesitate to name names, because I couldn't possibly name all of them. But I'm going to anyway, just to give you a sense. There was Helen Jennings, who taught my Sunday School class when I was just a kid. She had the strength of a farmer's wife, a mom, a sense of right and wrong, and an innate knowledge of when to distribute hugs and when enough was enough. Her sister, Mary Ann Gestes, shared that same sense. My teachers in school were almost all strong women... I remember one in particular, Mrs. Bonner (her first name was Gloria, like my mother, but my 2nd and 3rd grade self could never call her that). Sh...

My, my, what to say about today. One of the most stand-out things I can tell you is that it's very disconcerting to find a skinned rat rotting just outside your patio door. I can also tell you that when flies are buzzing, it's not always dog poop. Just sayin'. Now that you have that lovely picture in your mind's eye (and I'm not showing you the actual picture that I texted to Kef in the middle of her day), try to refocus on what I have to say next. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer in her eye. She went through a procedure to radiate that eye, which damaged the ocular nerve and left her blind in that eye. I was talking to her today and she is hanging in there like a real trouper. She's even working VBS, which I wouldn't even subject myself to with two perfectly-working eyes. Now, I know that people live thoroughly wonderful lives without sight. But I have to tell you that it has always been one of my greatest fears that I would go blind....