Friday, December 23, 2005

A Christmas Gift

I'm not the type of person who reads their horoscope or visits psychics or has their tea leaves read. That's not necessarily a comment on whether or not I believe. I mean the world is a big mysterious place and I'm not arrogant enough to think I have all the answers. I'm sure some people out there would call the story I'm about to tell you a mere coincidence and maybe it was or maybe it was a gift from God. Who's to know for sure.

A year ago this very week a friend of mine was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was very sudden and to say it stunned us all would be an understatement. She was a wonderful special lady and I truly was lucky to have known her. Her death this past April both a blessing and a tragedy.

Just this past weekend while having lunch with Dave and Mel I began to chat about my friend Jean. We were talking about religion in general and comparing traditional Churches to the more contemporary ones like The Third Space. I relayed the story of her funeral to them and how spiritually upsetting I had found it. I told them about Jean and how the service in no way captured or celebrated what a wonderful person she was.

In the week before Christmas, following her diagnosis, Jean came to visit us at work. She was a bit emotional, but overall looking and sounding well. She brought some Christmas cards to hand out and stayed for a short visit. In the year since that has occured there has been lots of changes at work. We've moved things around and reorganized many times. We've had changes in personnel and many of the people there now never knew Jean.

This Monday morning I walked down the hall to our staff room. As I reached the end of the hall I noticed a Christmas card laying on the floor right outside the staff room door. Concerned that some one had lost a Christmas card I picked it up intending to give it to the proper receipent. Imagine my surprise when I flipped it open and read Jean's signature across the card. The card was crumpled, stained and had obviously been hiding out some where for the last year.

Finding that card was an emotional moment for me. I had just been discussing Jean the day before. It was a year almost to the day of her diagnosis. The card wasn't addressed to anyone, but I think this time around it was for me. Where it had been for a year is anybody's guess. Why it showed up now, well that would be the coincidence or was it a gift from God? I'll let you be the judge.

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