My first waking thought at 4:59am was of a friend of mine.
Two summers ago, I remember sitting in the van with a Russian translator waiting for a Turkish lady to bring her children to us. I saw the door open and out came a beautiful woman wearing a powder blue suit with white piping. Her dark black hair was pulled up neatly in back. She carried a little blue purse that matched her outfit.
She moved her four children then nine months, 4 yrs, 9 yrs and 12 yrs along until they reached the car. When she got to the car I smiled at her introduced myself and helped everyone into the car. We went to our office to begin the process of registration for school.
Robert was at the office along with our children. We were met by our oldest daughter who had already begun to set the table for our guests. She had set tea out with cookies, nuts and candy. Our guest, L, sat down elegantly on a chair and began to drink her tea.
I had known from the minute I saw her leaving her front door that I would like her. She had a ready smile, a husband she enjoyed and loved and children who she felt the same about. She was a strong woman who had been through times of difficulty and was stronger for it. Not bitter and vengeful. I liked her. I like her.
One day not long after that first day, we went as a family to their home and visited, ate dinner with them. Monthly visits became a norm for us. Then one evening she was obviously having a difficult time. I asked her about it. Her husband told us that she had been to the doctor that day and been given the results of tests. She had cancer. Aggressive cancer. I went home and cried.
At the end of this summer she called me. I was sitting at a picnic table with my family meeting our children's new teacher when the call came in. I had been trying to reach her but had been unable to so I excused myself and took the call. I will never forget it. She said "Hello" and we talked small talk for a bit then she told me why she had called. She had neighbors who needed our help. "Would we help?" I said we would and then I asked about her, how was she? Her composure left. She started to cry. "I am still very sick. I am so sick that I cannot cook. Because I cannot cook my father-in-law left. He moved to NY." She cried. I let her. She struggled to regain her composure. I promised to visit her.
Over the next few months I tried to. But when I would got into her neighborhood without another refugee or without my own children she was never home. Finally again the other day she called. This time she got my message machine. I was in a meeting that I could not get out of. She said to my machine "Hello. This is L. I hope you remember me. I need your help. Can you call me when you are able?"
When I called her back I found a very hurting woman. Her cancer had gotten much worse. She had been doing so much chemo that often she was incredibly sick. A few times she had heard me at the door or on the phone but had been unable to get up to answer the door. Her husband had gotten a job and over the fall his job had taken a down turn. So in order to keep his job he had to work out of town. He had been out of town for the last twenty days. So now she was alone. Three of her children were at school now all day long and her youngest, Iy, was at home with her. Now he is three. He is a very active child. On the morning I called we talked about her trouble. She needs a place for Iy to stay during the day when they are alone. A place for him to play with other children, to be active. She told me what had happened the day before. She had chemo and had come home. She was so sick that she couldn't answer my call when I called. She couldn't answer the door. She couldn't move. She had just laid there crying. Her husband was 200 miles away and had been gone for 20 days. She and Iy were the only ones home and he had gotten so angry with her for not moving that he had started to hit her and scream at her.
This dear reader is the thought that awoke me this morning. Christmas is over. People will be getting back to business as usual and now I must begin research. I must find a good and safe place for Iy to go when his mother is sick. I will begin today with cancer support groups trying to find a place not only for him but for her as well. A way for them to be taken care of.
If you, are a prayer...please pray for me today. Pray for magic to happen and for God to bring the exact right person into this situation.
