We told Sam we would check our (silenced) phones if she texted us during church; we wanted to know how her day was going.
And so while our friend Russ was on the stand making an impassioned plea for people to participate in a Red Cross blood drive the church was going to be sponsoring in Menlo Park, that message came in, driving home Russ’s point unbeknownst to him.
Seriously down on those platelets. More so. Trying one more thing before transfusing. There are risks–but if she has to, a profound thank you for each person who makes it possible, and likewise to all who have added their prayers with ours.
It’s been a stressful time around here.
Our doorbell rang. It was a friend with a tiny miniature rose plant and a few homemade chocolate chip cookies, just because. Happy Valentine’s!
She had no idea. She had no idea how much it meant to me. I am determined to grow that three-inch Parade rose into something that blooms in my garden for decades in grateful remembrance of that act of unexpected kindness.
And as the sky started to dim in the late afternoon I suddenly had a feeling of being watched. Curious. I glanced up.
And just outside was the male Cooper’s hawk, perched on the chairback under the birdfeeder, people watching. My heart went out to him in thanks; somehow, when life gets really hard, one of them always seems to show up.
And there he was. Beautiful red chest, bluegray/white racing stripes on his head, craning his neck to show a gray stripe at the bottom of it too. He bobbed a bit, looking around just in case any dinner might happen to stumble on the scene, but mostly he was simply watching me.
We took each other in.
He opened his beak and again and said something I wished I could hear.
I thanked God for sending him to me; and with that, he raised his wings, turning, and flew in the one direction where I would be able to follow his path between the trees across our yard and on past the neighbor’s as he went–gone in a wingbeat, so fast!
I feel now like I can handle anything again.