Ya just never know

This is a picture of my mom and dad with their best friends some 50 years ago. Most of the folks in these photos have passed away with the exception of one person.......and that would be my mother's best friend,Martha. I have always known Martha....she probably held me when I was a baby...I played with her kids....got in trouble with them too! It was not uncommon to come home from college or a road trip to find Martha sitting at the kitchen table with my mom.......Mom and Martha shared in joy and sadness,life and death,love and friendship...weddings and funerals.....one of the hardest phone calls ever made was calling Martha to let her know when my mother died.Since then,Martha has become a massage client of mine.She comes once a month for about 45 minutes for a massage and to catch up.....and to be connected to mom...to be connected to beautiful family friendship...and to the future.I have always known Martha...yet I don't really know her.

Martha's grandson lived with her.He was a great guy but just saw the world differently.He was someone who liked to party....he was very talented in the visual arts and had huge creative ideas....he longed for his parent's approval....in many was he was a tortured soul (many artistic types are like that...including me sometimes!) Walking home from the grocery store one evening,he was hit by a school bus....Martha was on her way to share dinner with a friend when she noticed the accident and traffic backed up at the intersection she was approaching.It was then that she recognized the clothing of the victim lying on the street.She ran (as well as any 80 year old women could) to her grandson,knelt down and said,"grand mommy's here." I was so concerned when I found out Martha was present with her grandson right after the accident...I am sure the scene was not pleasant to say the least.When sitting with her I mentioned how very sorry I was that she had to see him like that.Her response was quite surprising."Oh no I'm not.I am glad he was not alone...and he knew he was loved before he lost consciousness." A big lump formed in the middle of my throat.Martha achieved the greatest and hardest duty any grandmother could ever be asked to fulfill...comforting and loving her dying grandson.
Ya just never know what people are made of...until one day you see their soul......This rings true for me.Not only did I see Martha's soul,but when I did,it changed mine.

(note that I have not used Martha's real name in this entry.This experience is still fresh and sensitive and so personal.I wanted to respect Martha's privacy)