Tonight was a precious moment. We have a 73 year old lady who lives two houses down from ours that has become the neighborhood great-grand mom. Every day after school (as long as it's not raining) the boys run down to check on Miss Hope. She smiles so big and says to them "Come in, come in. Twak to me." She was born Porto Rico and raised in the Bronx. Uprooted to Pa when her kids were little. She has lived here ever since.
A lot of our neighbors take care of her and check in but we love to do the same too. She has family close by but she so loves the boys dropping in to say hello. In the summer time she always has ice cream treats and popsicles for them. We have brought her food and gifts in the past but today I felt nudged to ask her to dinner. I guess I have been so busy lately I just never thought about it before. But now the Lord has cleared my schedule and I feel its time, probably over due.
So I made home made Cheese Broccoli Soup and brownies and had Miss Hope over. It was so wonderful. Her family is from Porto Rico and she loved teaching the boys some Spanish. Her actual name is Esperanza which means Hope. When she enteren school in the Bronx the teachers did not want to pronounce her Spanish name so they began to call her Hope. It stuck.
She had so much fun and so did we. The boys and her went through my Knights Baseball card collection and she rambled off all the stats on every player. She is a huge Yankees fan. I just love her. So after 3 hours of food and fun we walked her home and she thanked me for a wonderful night. Then she stopped and turned and thanked me for a wonderful friendship. I just about broke into tears. In her strong New York accent she said to me "We must do this again, my dear."
"Absolutely, Hope." I replied. She blew me a kiss good night and I headed back home. My heart is filled and I realize how much I love connecting with others. I love hearing the stories from years gone by, sharing moments with new moms as their kiddos experience the next stage, gathering with friends for prayer and reaching out to those who just need someone who cares. I may not run to the big parties or hang out with the most popular at church or in life for that matter but you can always find me with those who light up my world... my family and anyone out there who others may tend to forget about. This is where I find my purpose and my joy just cooking dinner for someone and listening to their heart.
5 comments:
Esperanza - I have always like that name....
We have a neighbor - Jesse, he's 84. We take care of his yard for him. I repair his home as I am able. He is a great neighbor. We had him over for dinner a little while ago too - and it was a great experience for him and for us. He has so many stories to share from his life. His wife passed away earlier this year, and since then we have been really reaching out for him. They were married for nearly 65 years....
Those are blessed times.
I don't know what happened, but the comment I posted for this showed up on the Mom's International post. I must still be asleep!!
Isn't God awesome? It appears that lately the Lord has opened windows of fresh air for you and your family. I'm so glad you're enjoying it!
This is so cool!
We have "Miss Edna" next door and #3 takes her the mail every day (she's in a wheel chair). We stop in to chat and bring over some clothes to hem, etc...the girls like to play with her coffee table full of knick knacks and when #3 came home today from delivering her mail she has a peanut butter cup and a Kit Kat!
That is such a sweet story - and your kids will remember her, too, forever. :-)
I just love it. We had a Jay & Myrna in our old neighborhood....
RYC-- I laughed when I read about you taking Batman everywhere. Ours is Bible Man (Mainly because I didn't have a bat man cape). J-man would wear this purple thing EVERYWHERE..even in the sprinkler.
Thanks for the encouragement and sharing your story about Hope. :-)
Post a Comment