The older I get, the more I appreciate people who are older than I am. I love their wisdom, their encouragement, their smiles.
I have several “older lady” friends at church that I grow to love more all the time. They care for me and my family. They encourage me as I mother my sons. They offer advice when I need it. I love them.
One of these friends, Lorna Mae, was spending time in Texas with her daughter earlier this summer when she began having some health struggles. She went to the doctor there and found out that she had cancer on her bladder. They did surgery right away and removed her entire bladder. She then went through several treatments to prevent more cancer. She spent several weeks of slow recovery from her surgery in Texas with her daughter taking care of her before she was able to return home last week.
Much to my surprise, she was able to be at the church service this Sunday morning! I was so happy to see her, that I went over right away to give her a hug as gently as I could so that I wouldn’t hurt her. I’ve been so concerned for her this summer and missed her so much.
She hugged me back…with much more strength than I thought she would have! I was overcome with joy that she was just as happy to see me as I was her….and that she was strong enough to give me a hard hug!! It was a wonderful reunion!
Before we knew it, right there in the church foyer, we both began weeping together as we talked about the loss of my cousins, her illness…and the fact that we’d missed each other so much. How truly wonderful to have such a lady in my life that cares so much for me. This certainly wasn’t the first time she’s cried with me. She’s been one of the first to comfort me and care for me during other losses and changes in our lives during the past few years.
I am incredibly thankful for the friendship of this woman who loves me so much and I am so thankful that she is home and recovering.
I need women like her in my life…and I am so thankful that God has provided these godly women for me to lean on and learn from.
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday?! Please share with us!
What a beautiful and special friendship. How wonderful that you can both be such a blessing to each other.
I’ve learned to really appreciate the friendship and wisdom of our older neighbors also. I am always amazed by the encouragement our family provide for them also, and by how much we have in common and are able to talk about.
I am so thankful that your friend is recovering rapidly. I will pray that she continues to remain healthy and vibrant.
I hope your friend continues to improve. What a blessing to have such special people in our lives!
http://mariemommyof2.blogspot.com/
How precious! May the Lord bring her to full recovery.
Sounds like she is a gift from the Lord!
I’m so glad you got to see your friend! I would be just like you, overcome with emotion.
I did a Gratitude Tuesdsay on my blog today – first time!
Very sweet. There is so much wisdom and comfort to be found in older generations. Here is my Gratituesday…
http://amysfinerthings.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/my-new-ugly-scar/
It is so wonderful the way God provides for each of our needs! I feel the same way about my “older lady” friends. I don’t even think they are old, just older/wiser than me! I love to hear their encouragement and advice, and just get the perspective back! Thanks for sharing:)
I also have some older woman who mean a lot to me. Thanks for sharing. Here is the link to my Gratituesday.
http://lynnskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratittuesday.html
I love my dear older lady friends and so this post touched my heart! What a precious Gratituesday!
Here’s mine:
http://weblog.xanga.com/flipperiferous/668043216/grati-tuesday.html
It is so wonderful that you saw your friend! and that she was doing so well. Praise God.
http://frugalityexplored.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-freezer.html
Thank you for sharing that. I think we all need women in our life like that!
How wonderful, what a blessing. :)
http://michelleolw.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratittuesday.html
Blessings to you and your friend! How wonderful that she was able to come to church so soon.
What a great blessing!
Here’s my Gratituesday post:
http://lorri-gratitude.blogspot.com/2008/07/grati-tuesday-july-29-2008.html
I teared up at the thought of having a friend like that. I used to have one, but we have since parted ways.
I would love to have that again.
Today I am thankful for hot summer days! All too soon it will be cold again and my gardens will be covered in many feet of snow! So with our short growing season coming to an end sooner than I would like, I am thankful for our 90 degree hot and humid weather. (And the fact that I have heavy draperies I can pull to keep my house cooler on these days as we do not have air conditioning)
I will have to agree that there are so many wonderful people in our lives that help us get through the hardest things. I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful older ladies in the church this past week to help me through one of the hardest times in my life. Here is my Gratituesday post.
http://forcheapsake.com/index.php/2008/07/28/gratituesday-heartbroken/
Here is my gratituesday post.
http://handmadedaily.blogspot.com/2008/07/grateful-for-him.html
Gratituesday: Naps
http://servantsheart.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/gratituesday-naps/
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratituesday_27.html
My linky!
This was such a wonderful friendship to read about. You are very blessed! My Gratituesday post is at: http://smalltownblessings.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratituesday-home-again.html
My “Gratituesday” is on my blog today at http://www.teresakindred.com Blog icon on the top right.
Yall come visit!
Oh, I am so grateful for my friends, too!
I wrote about being grateful despite unexpected and unwanted circumstances. Here is my first GratiTuesday post:
http://crunchychristianmom.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratituesday-i-have-bad-pre-conference.html
It is great to have older ladies to look up to and fellowship with. :D
http://sweetslady.multiply.com/journal/item/80/Gratitude_Tuesday_err_Wednesday
I don’t have my blog functioning at the moment, but I’m thankful we were all safe in the earthquake yesterday. It was a little scary but we were far enough away that nothing fell down or broke or anything like that.