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Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts

Saturday, September 19, 2015

One Good Friend

Often times lately I feel sorry for myself. "Woe is me," I say.

Today I was feeling especially woeful. My sister and her husband made the yearly late fall trek to Girdwood, Alaska. My husband and I have been going with them for the last three years and we have such a grand time...no kids, just adult time with two of the best people in the world. We were invited to go with them again, but getting tickets back to Alaska at the last minute and juggling what to do with our children proved too much at this time. They left for Girdwood last night and today she sent me a beautiful photo of the two of them at the top of the mountain surrounded by snow and bright blue sky and they looked so lovely. I love and miss them so much. I cried. Woe is me.

We all do that sometimes...right? We take turns feeling sorry for ourselves. A little indulgence into the passion of self pity. We allow it from time to time, some allow it to take a firm hold for a long time, sometimes a lifetime... some can combat it entirely. I fall to this temptation too often. Woe is me.

I was making a list in my head of all of the things that I have lost (misplaced?) during the move...not people that I have lost. Things. My tennis shoes, my shirt that I really like, an old comforter that my son likes, my fall boots, my garden clogs. Wracking my brain, I don't know where they went. Woe is me.

Then a car pulls into my driveway. Up walks my new friend that I met after moving here. She is a good soul, kind, loving, non-judgmental, giving. She has lost so much. Not just things but also many people. She has endured much suffering, she still goes through such suffering. My problems are nothing compared to hers. When I saw her I knew that she would see my pain and ask if I was ok. She would care enough to ask and I would probably cry when she did.

I tried to stay strong, to put on a good face. I failed. She asked. I cried. She hugged me. I felt so silly but she comforted me and told me how hard it must be to be in my shoes. She cared, really cared, and loved me.

Thank you, God, for this friend. How many people have a friend such as this? Someone who has suffered beyond anything I could ever imagine. Thank you for my tiny cross that I bear and for helping me to see how small it is. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent this woman that I did not know three months ago into my life exactly when I needed her and when she needed me. What a loving Father you are, how much you love us is unmeasurable and overwhelming.

Ahhh, what lovely people. Miss you guys.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Sweetest Nuns, my story

I have a friend, her name is Ella. I used to call her Liz, when we were young.

She is beautiful, always has been. I met her when I was 15 and she had come to Alaska to "fix" her life. She had lived in California before that and needed a do-over, Alaska is good for that.

I have a husband, his name is John. I used to call him Ron, when we were young.

He was in love with Liz.

He did prayers with Liz every morning. They were young, zealous Orthodox Christians. He was tortured by his love for this girl.

He discovered a saint, named St. Xenia. She is renowned for helping drunkards and also for finding a spouse. He began to pray to her, to ask her to help him figure out if this was the girl for him to be his wife. St. Xenia answered his prayers and took away his love and replaced it with a different love, the friendship kind and he knew he should not marry her.

Liz traveled to Jerusalem. Ron worked 2 jobs. I flirted with Ron.

Liz found a monastery full of wonderful nuns and wanted to stay. Her priest said, "no! You have to come home with us and at least say goodbye to family, you can't just stay." She obeyed him and came home.

She said goodbye to her family and found a closer monastery with 3 sweet Greek nuns in the States. They allowed her to stay. She was so happy.

A month after she left, it was the feast of St. Xenia. We sang an akathist to her. Ron fell in love with me. He wanted to marry me.

I married him.

We are *usually* happy.

I got to see my friend this weekend here in Alaska. I don't miss her until I see her, but that's just how I am. The States are so far away. I adore her. My daughter, Xenia, adores her too. I'm sad that she leaves tomorrow.

Liz and her troubled past is no more. Ella is a wonderful, beautiful woman. Full of kindness, wisdom, struggles, and laughter. She even has goats. She loves my children and they love her.

What a lucky girl I am to have the sweetest nun for a friend.



Some of the names were changed for privacy reasons.