An Invincible Summer - A Woman's Journey

Meet Gary. He’s one of the more senior members of our neighborhood community. He’s been on this street for a very long time. Completely full of houses now, Gary, as a young man, used to break wild horses in the area where the newer homes currently sit. Moving kind of slow, Gary still reaches out to chat a bit or show off his once beautiful yard. He has been caring for his also elderly wife Elaine, who has mild dementia and in poor health. He does not complain, quite the opposite, he speaks so lovingly of his wife of more than 60 years.  Recently Elaine suffered a heart attack and Gary has been spending a lot of time at the hospital. Our neighborhood got together to help Gary and Elaine a little. They did a yard clean up. Boy Scout headed it up by honing his newly acquired skills of pruning, having just finished his mid term in the course he is taking. He cleaned up all the roses and then tackled the Japanese maple tree. He filled all the neighborhood yard cans that were each genero...

 Good morning, The other morning, while spending time with my sleeping soldiers, I had a surprise. It was a rare clear day which, since I am in Portland, was unusual. The sun was still behind the mountains and the sky was the beautiful inky blue that is tinged with the subtle pink found in pale roses. My favorite time of day. Around 7:15am a worker passed by in a truck, later a small fork lift followed. A few minutes after that, a small white car passed and went down the hill. My spot at the apex of the cemetery was solitary again. I sat and listened to a workshop put on by Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer call The Importance of Being Extraordinary. In contemplation, I watched the sky lighten as the little white car drove past me slowly about 20 minutes after the first pass. I noticed a red light in my rear view mirror and watched as the white car backed up….back, back, back, until her window aligned with mine. Braving the cold, I watched as she rolled her window down. A small white ha...

  And the I found them……..