Angels on Earth

The Ensign tends to sit around the bathroom. I read it in there. That is also why I see the front cover picture often. This month's Ensign featured an older couple on the front. The white haired woman looks just like my eighty year old neighbor Barbara.

Two years ago I was in the midst of placenta previa complications and ordered to bedrest. Nicky was 17 months old and afraid of everyone except me (including her dad). When Jeff was working, we had to farm out my terrified girl to different neighbors and ward members. So while I "rested" I had to think about Nicky crying and missing me. Not fun. I didn't know Barbara but when she heard of my plight she was on my door step. She wanted to help me and "get acquainted" (such a cute grandmotherly term). She made spaghetti and meatballs, helped with Nicky so she could stay home, put her in her crib for naptime (even though she'd broken a hip a few months earlier), and kept me company in my lonely boredom. At a time where the absence of my mother was so painful, her kindness and grandmotherly ways were a balm. I was touched that she served me as if I was a dear friend even though we were strangers. After that experience, we became friends. There is something special about Barbara and her brand of happiness; I gravitate towards it.

I've never heard Barbara speak unkindly about anyone. In fact, she looks for the special and good when she speaks of someone, including her plumber. She offers gratitude at every turn. I made her banana bread once and she went into great detail about how delicious and amazing it was. She makes me feel so wonderful for anything I do for her. Her husband Bill had struggled with health issues and near death experiences for thirty years. A few months ago his cancer began to spread. I asked her if she felt upset at the prospect of losing him. She said, "I am just grateful that I've had him this long. The Lord has blessed us so many times, I couldn't be angry with Him for taking him now." Bill died last Saturday night and I am crying for Barbara. She loved and served her sick husband with an unparalleled devotion. There's was a true love story.

When I saw the Ensign cover, I thought of how beautiful white hair, wrinkles and a body bent with age appears after having known Barbara. What a stark contrast to the models and movie stars that appear on the covers of grocery store magazines. Barbara's beauty shines far brighter. How I wish I could be as happy, kind, loving, grateful, and hopeful as she is. For the first time in my life, I've thought to wish to be an old woman if I could be such a woman as she. I feel so far from it some days.