They Were so Close

"I hear you are going to live with your granddaughter?" I asked when she entered the room of the resident I was visiting.

"Yes, I'm so excited. Can't wait," the little lady with the walker said to me.

"I will miss you so much," the one in the wheelchair said, the one I had come to visit.

I watched as they reached for each other. Trying to hug, they poked each other in their eyes. One disabled from the legs down, and the other one from the waist up, but this friendship had entered their lives years ago. Time had brought these two together as they served this same center and watched their mom's last days end here. Now, they were not the servers, but the ones being served. One had children and grandchildren, the other one childless. But the bond between them was solid like glue.

The wheel chair patient was broken hearted her friend was leaving but happy she would have a change of pace in her life.  How lonely she would be, was at the core of her heart nagging in agony. Trying to hide her feelings, she glanced her way with a smile.

The one standing was eager to go but didn't want to be a burden to her granddaughter that had come forth to save her from this institution. Her compassion whirled around the room knowing her friend would stay behind while she would be surrounded with love from this precious grandchild.  She turned her walker around and started toward the door.  Tears left their trail. Even though she was entering a new

life, she had sadness mixed with gladness.

The one left behind reached for my hand, and said, "She is so lucky."

“When did this decision come about?” I asked.

“I hope it is her dream,” the one who would be left behind said to me, and yet, she was happy for her friend’s new freedom.  My heart broke for both of them.

Several weeks later when I went out to visit the one left behind, she had grand news and was wearing a smile larger than her face.

“What’s up?” I asked her as I found a chair.

“Her granddaughter came but she couldn’t go. She is

staying. We will see the end together.”

The lady re-entered Good Sam’s. She vowed she’d stay with her friend that did not have someone as dear as she had. They would enter God’s Kingdom together just as they watched their moms enter His Kingdom together. This bond was many years old.

“I would be a burden to my granddaughter,” she explained.

“She has a life full of energy and pep. I would put a damper on that.”  They unpacked her belongings so she could stay a spell.

Both ladies died within weeks of each other. They entered heaven almost together, for I know that is where they went.

© 2002 Carol Dee Meeks