Miss Margaret

Miss Margaret is one of the blessings God gave us when we moved to our current house. She lives next door.

The first time I knew of her was about a week before we moved in. Aunt Dawn was driving through our neighborhood and called me to ask the address so she could go see what our new place looked like. I was on the phone with her when she drove up and she said, "Oh! There's a lady next door, out in the yard! I'm going to say hello!" So she put the phone down and rolled down her window to say a brief hello.

This brief hello went beyond the statutory limits of "brief". Miss Margaret told Aunt Dawn about her birthday, her baptism when she was a baby, her breast cancer, her career in anesthesiology, and I don't know what all else. And she told her that she's in her 80's. And... that she has Alzheimer's.

I was waiting, on the phone in Dawn's lap, for at least 10 minutes. Giggling at the sweet lady who just couldn't stop talking. She sounded so lonely.

I'm thinking, "Oh great. I'm going to have to dash in the house everytime I see this lady or else I'll get stuck talking about the events of 1931". I can't say that I had a bad attitude, but it definitely wasn't an attitude that was poised to show the deep, deep love of Jesus.

Well, we moved in and have loved living next to Miss Margaret. And I'll tell you who has benefited most from this neighbor - my girls. Corene and Ava a. dore. Miss Margaret. Miss Margaret has raspberry bushes. Miss Margaret has pretty pretty flowers (them'd be dandylions & violets). Miss Margaret talks to them and hugs them and smiles at them and walks around with them and looks at their chalk drawings. They can't seem to get enough of her.

Miss Margaret really loves living next to my girls, too. She tells me e-v-ery-time I see her that I have wonderful children, and that she loves having children living here, and as often as they're outside and she can come out, she does. I can tell that they make her day.

It has become such a sweet friendship they've formed.

Look who's showing the deep, deep love of Jesus.

And look who's showing ME how to show the love of Jesus.