Whatever He Says

Susan emailed me a memory two nights ago and I asked her if I could share it here. It's here, so you know she said yes! :) I so enjoyed this glimpse into Susan's childhood. I love who she is now and I love who she was then, even though I would have been the girl named Colleen at the end of the story that she was laughing so hard at. Susan grew up in Windsor, Ontario and she and her husband Ron happened across this news article with the attached photo. That brought back the memory in this story.   Now, over to Susan: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/06/27/wdr-windsor-port-authority-proposed-development.html Ron asked me if I knew where along the river that was and I know EXACTLY where it is.  The house where I lived until I was 11 would be located near the top of this photo if it hadn't been torn down a few years ago.  (To make room for the new bridge to Detroit.) This exact section of the shore of the Detroit River is where I used to play a...

By Belinda (with a lot of help from Susan :)) I was saying goodnight to her at the front door this week when she told me. There was apparently more to the scarf around her neck than I knew.  The scarf had been a gift from me for Susan's birthday on Tuesday December 18th.  It had been her 60th; and that day I had treated her to lunch to celebrate.  We met at a tiny restaurant,  Port Soiree,  in Schomberg,near her office. It was a restaurant neither of us had been to before and it turned out to be a gem, with artsy ambiance, amazing food, wonderful service and modest pricing. In other words, it was perfect! The gift I had bought for her was a scarf made from Royal Stewart tartan--her married name being Stewart. It is hard to find the perfect gift for someone of our age. Most of us are de-cluttering so do not need more nick-knacks, and we have more books on our bedside tables waiting to be read than we have years left to read them all in--you ...

By Belinda We gathered last Friday evening to celebrate--just a few of the people who know and love Susan; my friend, and a mother of nine; with a rapidly increasing flock of grandchildren. All she wanted to do to celebrate her milestone birthday--60 years on December 18, was to have dinner with a few of her girlfriends--so that's what we did, we gathered at  The Whistle Stop  in  Beeton  and we just hung out for a few hours laughing and enjoying one another's company. Susan and I have known one another for a long time; she would know exactly how long--but I just know that in 1997 we met again after being out of touch for a gap of several years, and have been very close friends for the past 15.  "Close friends" means knowing  each other extremely well. As with spouses, so in friendship, often opposites attract. We have had our share of crazy times, when the opposite parts poked our tender spots, but mostly we fit together like puzzle pieces meant to...

By Belinda  This is another "smattering," or crazy quilt day.. I lay in bed late, luxuriating in the knowledge that it was sabbath. No chores to do, no list to follow, not even a day of hospitality after church with last minute preparations to be made. Just a generous getting-ready-for-church time ahead. While in the bathroom, sipping on a steaming cup of delicious black coffee as I powdered my nose and lipsticked my lips, the phone rang.  "Did I wake you up?" It was my friend Frances. "I called at 8.30 and there was no answer," she went on with the urgency of a friend who "needs to talk." She told me of having a shadow week; a week of silence from God; of feeling adrift somehow and worst of all, knowing partly why; choices made. Late yesterday evening, she had driven home from work through dark night spun with finest diamonds. As they danced and sparkled in her headlights, she thought with regret of the diamonds God offers and what we trade for ...

By Belinda On Friday, Susan's post, Ready or Not set the scene for Summer-Lily's Sweet Sixteen party: A Wiener Roast at the Stewart's. On the eve of the party, which Susan sanguinely, had agreed to have at her place, she learned, when I apologized that I would be a tad late, that the Face book invitation sent out by her equally sanguine daughter Jorie, had invited us all over at 4.30 (hours before she would be home from work!) The preparations; which consisted of hiding things in closets and locking rooms, ramped up to fever pitch. A crisp chill was in the air on Friday evening. I changed into warm layers after work, and set out with Paul for our first ever wiener roast at the Stewart's. When we arrived, it was still light but there was a blazing fire in the pit, around which people were already gathered on lawn chairs, roasting wieners and marshmallows. There were six old fogeys (anyone over 40, including us) along with about thirty assorted teens, twenties and ...

Isaiah 41:10 (New International Version 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I sent the verse above, from today's Daily Light reading, to Susan last night. Her heart was in turmoil; her father very ill with pneumonia in Windsor, and she worn out from a tiring week and sleepless nights. She had quickly packed a bag and planned to leave this morning to be with him and to do what she could to make him comfortable. In spite of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, requiring oxygen 24 hours a day, this old soldier of 84 had decided not to go to hospital and was not on antibiotics. As we drove to church for the Good Friday communion service, she was on my mind and in my prayers. The worship team leading the service had chosen songs that were moving and meaningful and drew the congregation of our little church into a place of reflection and deep gratitude for the sa...