The face that gazed up at me was still so beautiful and the smile she shared had not ceased since I came into the room.
“Hello dear, you’re Rheta’s new friend aren’t you?” she asked.
It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t remember she had met me before. Of course I had changed considerably through the years but astonishingly she had not changed at all.
Our conversation was somewhat repetitive as she attempted to hold her thoughts together but what was clear was her concern that I be comfortable and feel welcomed.
On the wall of her sunlit room was a collage of photographs…..the story of her life in pictures. We chatted for and while and then her daughter placed a photo in her hands of a handsome man, sitting on the grass.
She gazed at the photo with so much love that it radiated from her. Tears filled her eyes as she held it clutched to her breast.
Gently her daughter took the photo. “It’s all right Mom, I’ll put it back on the wall where you can see it.” Then, she turned to me and said “She’s been a widow for over forty years.” I just shook my head in disbelief. I thought of this deep love that had lasted so long and saw in it the reflection of God’s love enduring over time…without physical presence but always there in thought and memory.
Lunch- time came and I watched familiar roles being reversed as daughter fed mother. I smiled as I heard “one more spoonful, okay that’s it”. How often I had said
much the same to my own children.
It was nearly time to go and the elderly lady again asked “You’re Rheta’s friend aren’t you?” Again, I answered in the affirmative. A big smile spread across her face. Then carefully, she lifted herself up and reached for her walker. We began the slow trip to the nearby lounge.
“Bye dear” she waved as we headed towards the door. How gracious she had been as she shared with me the love she’d had for her husband and reminded me that love is not limited by time or space or by age….for my gentle, elderly friend is 101 years old.
