Lessons among the Flowers...

There is a lot to be said for living in a smaller town, everybody knows each other, latest news is usually at the local cafe and people do care and get worried if they haven't seen you in a while.  Yet just as with any other smaller community, our area is beginning to show the real signs of big growth and now we don't know everybody, instead find ourselves asking "Heh, have you seen those folks before?  Must be new to the area, bet they came here to get away from the big town!"

It seems our small town has just about everything you could want- we are very lucky to have a small garden center that is run by a local couple who truly love nurturing beautiful plants and  selling them to people.  This couple will be the first to tell a customer, "if you want plants that will Last, then drop in to see us, but if you buy from those Big stores, well-don't expect your plants to last long!"  I am sure folks have thought this can't be true, its just a sales-pitch, only to find out later-the Owner was right as you drag back in to the local store, with your head down, trying to say "Well, I-uh-well you were right! Now could I buy some of your plants?"  A big smile will fly across the face of the wife-who is there daily to water, prune, and love the plants as she walks among them.

I have known for a few years now that she suffers with Chronic Pain-when we see each other, its like this special "Pain Language" starts to fly and we bring each other up to date as to our latest struggles.  This lady is another "Pain Won't Beat Me" type of person-refusing to give in and let Pain take her away from what she loves to do-walking among the flowers, drawing inner strength as she pushes herself to do a task, no matter how bad she hurts at that moment.

Today I dropped in to the plant store with one goal, buy a few plants, get them home and in the ground, without help from anybody!  I walked around for quite a while, admiring all the spring beauty around me, bees buzzing, hummingbirds zipping around-the setting was so peaceful and it was fun to just linger there and drink it all in.

Suddenly the Lady sees me and says "Well, I haven't seen you in a month of Sundays (a texas twist) I was starting to get worried about you!  How are you doing these days?"  Then she stopped and said, "Do you mind if I sit down while we visit?"  My first Lesson-Pain had been a Frequent Visitor to her body and it showed in her slow walk, the quick need to sit down-as it hit me just how much Pain takes from a person and yet here was another person, obviously suffering and yet refusing to give up doing things she loved.

Lesson Two began-as I tried to offer words of comfort to her, instead she turned the questions toward me,
asking "So how are you doing, is your Pain better or worse?"  I didn't know how to answer her-if I said my Pain was worse, it felt as if I was trying to "best her" in some warped way and that was the last thing I wanted to do!  It was hard to find the words and I just mumbled something about "well it sure hasn't left me!"

Then she shared with me that her husband had also become a victim to Chronic Pain after having major surgery on his neck, from discs that were bulging and causing him to be in agony.  I listened as she described his days, the moments when Pain grips him, causing severe Muscle Spasms and how helpless she felt, not being able to do something to help him feel better.

Lesson Three was the one that had my full attention-she had been looking around at all the beautiful plants that she cares for and I noticed a look on her face-as if she were in some far off place that only a few can go to-and she told me "You know-when you are living with someone who is suffering just as bad as you are, well when the days come and all we can do is complain, fuss, cry, moan and groan-it actually helps because you know the person sitting across from you, understands exactly what you mean!"

I understood her message to me on this day-it was one filled with lessons to remind me about Chronic Pain-its not black and white-you can't see it-oh you can feel it-and yet its almost impossible for others to get true insight as to just how hard this fight can be.  As I gathered all my new plants and got ready to leave, she looked at me and asked "So are you going to get these in the ground today?"  My first thought was "You just watch me" but deep inside, there was a nagging doubt if I could manage getting it done.  She was reading my mind and told me "Tell you what-I am going to give them some extra water-that way it will be okay if they have to sit a day or two."  She knew the message my Pain was sending out with my own slow walk and a burning leg that has driven me to exhaustion.

There we stood, two women united by a common enemy-Chronic Pain-and it felt as if we had sent a silent message to each other- "Hang in there, Don't give up the fight, We can do this!"  I got home and by the grace of God and some very helpful Angels, I managed to get five plants in the ground and hope they grow.

My Joy today was two-fold, as I got to see so many beautiful plants and catch up with a fellow friend who suffers as I do-somehow I think we managed to lift each other up, just a bit.  That "bit" can go a long way in making it through the day.

God bless all who walk this hard journey.  Martha