One Of Our Own

Last night my beautiful husband made me a fire in the fireplace. Made meaning..lighting the pilot light in our gas logs, though he would have made the "real" kind if we had one...sort of a pyromaniac that one. He loves to build a fire and watch it burn. Must be a family trait! Sweet one as he is, he noticed that I was all bound up under a blanket while watching and old movie..("Love Affair"-made before "An Affair To Remember"-Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne..a must see!) and offered to warm me up with a fire and I happily said yes. It was a sweet gesture for which I will never forget to notice and one that gave me a well needed comfort here at the beginning of what will surely be many cold nights. Have I ever stated publicly how much I HATE COLD WEATHER! Let's just be clear on that. It is so cold...not fair, we live in Tennessee not Michigan! Okay, finished with my rant!.... As I sat there looking at the fire even more than the movie, I pondered about the times that I remember... one of our own who LOVED her fireplace. It is a image I will always have. I would tell her....."you realize it is expensive to run that gas log fireplace......you should only run it when you have a special night of company or Christmas! "And her reply...... "HUSH!....By the way, since when did I become so frugal"...... (busted!) and I would just laugh and we would go on yammering about everyday things. It's those everyday things that I miss the most...we could get on a soap box better and faster than anyone..and we were always right...its the people who where wrong!(Sybil movie a.k.a. Sally Field, reference) Way back when, before her swanky, flip a switch fireplace, I remember her standing sprawled out, both legs wide across the grate in the floor of the hallway at her old house, when they had the kind of furnace thingy in the basement. She would stand there getting warm and toasty for what seemed like forever. Depending on where you were..in the living room or kitchen, she would flip around and carry on a conversation......no big deal! This was when our babies were small and eventually one of them would step on the grate.....have crisscrosses on their feet but, it would teach the others to stay away. Survival in the kid world I guess. But anyways, as I sat and watched the fire burn I realized how short life is and watching a fire burn IS a fun thing to do, I don't know why but it is. Even more, it is the cozy factor which is what I think she liked the most. She would say that she runs her fireplace more than the heat and I would guess that was true and good for her! I am glad she did and every time I foolishly use mine I will do it in honor of my dear sister (in law)....she is one of our own who left us way too soon and it is even as I write this, painful to talk about. No time have I known anyone who believed so fully that she would survive this awful disease and it turns out she was right. She did survive it just not in the way we wanted her too. I am thankful no none has said within my hearing that God needed one of his angels back or another totally non scriptural or even more STUPID thing people who don't know what to say have said. I am thankful for that...its the small things, ya know. But the truth is God is the only one who knows the reasons why..we can question all we want but still HE knows and it is not required for us to be informed. His grace is sufficient for us all and I put all my faith in Him and His wisdom. She is One Of Our Own...Our age, Our family, Our friend, Our aunt, Our daughter and Sister; GiGi, Mom and Wife. It hits hard when it is that close and after twenty plus years of ministry with my husband I still know that the words are not there. I had always felt compassion to people in this situation but this time it is one of MY OWN! There are no words that satisfy the hunger for answers, the longing for her back just to text or talk, endlessly about nothing and about everything....and the days in front of the fire..warming her toes...wasting all that expensive gas!..... OH..go ahead and waste it...it's not a waste, silly me. Every time I look at my fire at my house it will be a warm remembrance of a time that was fleeting and a friend that was my best. Take the time....linger by the fire...what is all the fuss about...not a darn thing we can do about any of it and even that gives me Hope...He has it all under control...Amen!

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