Just Happening

Been getting out more lately. I figure, might as well be out in the sunshine. Usually get out with my sis and a niece. We don't do too much, just get out and ride and people-watch - which is better entertainment than TV will ever be.

Yesterday, sis and I went to Carrs/Safeway for a few things she needed to make spaghetti. Our pal, Bonita, was there. Bonita is a bag carrier at the store. I have never met anyone as instantly sweet and kind as this woman is. Every time we see her, she has a hug for us and she wants to talk about how good God is. I can be in the worst mood, but once I see Bonita, I am just filled with knowledge that God IS and that He has put people like Bonita in my life.

In other news, the weather is starting to turn. It's more likely for the day to be cool and overcast than sunny and warm. You can feel a deeper chill in the night air. Just a few weeks ago, the nights were warm enough to leave a window wide open while you prayed for a breeze. I can't believe how fast the weeks of summer have gone by.

Went with sis today over to Red Apple, which is only THE best grocery store if you're looking for "ethnic" foods. Sis has been craving those canned tamales she loves so much & RA is about the only place they can be found here. I almost always pick up a bag of garlic cloves there. I can get a baggie of about 6 cloves for $2 or I can pay 89 cents EACH for cloves at Carrs/Safeway. I told my sis that if I was of a criminal mind, I'd buy a few bags at RA and return them at Carrs/Safeway...

While we were at RA, a guy came up to sis as we waited to check out and asked what happened that she was missing her legs. This guy looked to be about 30 or so. He had fumes of alcohol coming off him, but he was sweet and kind enough as sis explained that she lost her legs to diabetes and high blood pressure. He told her that his mother had both those diseases and that he had a paraplegic sister. When it was our turn at the register, I offered to let him go first since we had more items. He looked around vaguely and said he couldn't remember what he had come in to buy. I checked our stuff out and the guy was still just kind of hanging around us, looking a little lonely and lost. The clerk told him that if he was going to buy something to buy it, or else quit hanging around bothering people. Sis and I were getting ready to roll out of the store and he was still lingering around us. He looked so hurt as he turned to my sister and asked, "Am I bothering you?" She smiled and shook her head. He then held out his hand to show the clerk that he had three quarters to spend, but couldn't remember what he wanted to buy. When we left, he was still just kind of hanging around.

At the car, I loaded up the stuff we bought and my sister just shook her head. "Poor guy," she said. "He's just lonely and kind of lost."

Now that I'm back home, I can't get that guy's face out of my head. He's somebody's child, maybe somebody's brother, uncle... He is somebody. And he could be any one of us. He's just wandering and lost and not sure what to do with himself. He could be any one of us.

Yesterday, sis and I were talking and I asked again about one of the ladies I haven't been seeing at the dialysis clinic lately. Earlier this week, sis had guessed that the woman was one of the patients who moved to the newer clinic we have here. Yesterday she found out that this woman hadn't moved to the new clinic but had suddenly passed away a week or so ago. Sis said the technician she learned this from wasn't sure what the cause of death was... This woman was maybe in her 40's, but she was very large-sized and she smoked like crazy. Matter of fact, I only ever saw her sitting outside the clinic, smoking cigarette after cigarette and hacking so hard it seemed painful. To me, she's just someone I was used to seeing and won't see again, but to someone else she was a wife or girlfriend or sister or mother... Another life.

Oh well.

Now I'm going to go and try to catch up on some of the other blogs. I've been neglecting my own lately, but I might as well read up on everyone else's.

Peace
--Free