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Every Day is Precious: Fresh air, clean clothes and soaring kites
By ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
A few weeks ago a woman named Donna e-mailed saying that she had heard about us through our friend Michele and wanted to do our laundry for us. She wanted to pick up our dirty clothes twice a week, delivering clean clothes as she came to pick up the dirty. Michele, on one of her normal visits, told us Donna would be calling. We told Michele that Donna had already contacted us, but we hadn't set up anything yet. Michele said, ''Please don't deny Donna this blessing. She is one of those people who really likes to do laundry even ironing.'' I've never met one of those people. I didn't even know those people existed. Donna has been coming to the house for a couple of weeks now and she is unlike many people in many ways. She really does love washing clothes. She told us she had only boys so she never got to wash clothes like our 10-year-old Darcy has and thinks they are cute. Matt's sweats and jeans remind her of when her boys were at home. She is an animal lover and insisted on learning the names of all six of our pets and calls them by name and gender. This is something that no one outside our home has been able to do. She plays piano beautifully by ear. One of her visits she said she brought some ideas of music to play. I looked at the paper in her hand it was a three-inch square sheet of a note pad with 12 or 15 song titles written on it. She asked if there were anything in particular that Marcy would like to hear. I told Donna Marcy really likes Rod Stewart's collections of American standards and showed her the CDs. Donna played every other song just by reading the titles and not just snippets of the songs, the whole song, all 10 fingers playing on every song. One visit she brought her husband to weed-eat our yard. One day Michele told Donna about Darcy being upset after losing a kite. Donna e-mailed at 10 o'clock the same evening saying she had found a kite and didn't want to disturb us, but she would drop the kite off first thing the next morning. The next day, Saturday, at 7 a.m., on our front porch, there was a kite, string and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Since Marcy's diagnosis, we have tried to limit our diets to healthy foods. But I had been craving Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the three days prior. And those doughnuts on that Saturday morning reminded me of my Dad getting doughtnuts for us on Saturday mornings when I was Darcy's age. The kite went up in the air that perfect spring day as easily as the donuts went down. The kite stayed in the air for more than two hours long enough draw neighbors on both sides to come hold the string and enjoy a simple joy and peace. The kites, the doughnuts, and Donna all are gifts from God. She brings so much love, we never know what Donna is going to do next. She lifts our hearts as a whirlwind of the Holy Spirit, a personification of John 3:8 ''You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.'' If you know someone in need, listen to the small, still voice inside your head. You'll know what to do.
Every Day Is Precious is a column to remind us to treat everyone we see today as if it could be the last time we see them. It is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August 2000. If you have helped someone without being asked, or know of someone who has, share it with others. Send to rob@everydayisprecious.com or to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069.
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