The Mower

by Kay Heitsch

It's interesting how everyday happenings can make you think.

I was in a hurry. I wanted to get the yard mowed before it got dark. I opened the garage door and drug out the mower. I did my usual push the little red button routine a few times and gave the cord a yank. Yippee, it started right up.

I walked back and forth over the yard a few times when the mower started to act weird. "What on earth is wrong with this thing," I wondered. The mower started to make a choking sound and finally stopped. Good grief! I gave the cord several more hard yanks. I'll admit I was feeling more irritated with every pull of the cable.

I finally took a deep breath and whispered, "Lord, what is the problem?" A thought came to my mind, "I wonder if the mower is out of gas." Sure enough, when I took the cap off, I could see that I had forgotten to put gas in the tank.

As I was putting gas in the mower, another thought came to my mind, "How many times have I been in such a big hurry to get on with my daily activities that I didn't take the time to fill my spiritual tank.

This mower incident taught me a valuable lesson.

The Race Is On

by Kay Heitsch

After watching my son Todd run in a race, I made my usual comment, "Todd, I could walk faster than those women run." Todd laughed as he knew I wasn't a runner. "Listen, Mom, I want you to put your money where your mouth is. How about you run with me next year at this race?" Without thinking, I quickly agreed to this challenge. I felt this was going to be a piece of cake!

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine what the next year would bring.

When it was almost time for this race to occur, Todd wasn't going to be running. He had died in a car accident. A few of his friends knew this "challenge" I had agreed to with Todd. They started to encourage me to run the race. I hadn't trained or anything. Quite frankly, I had almost forgotten I said I would do it.

I decided I should keep my promise to Todd and run the race. The first thing I did was go out and buy some running clothes. I might as well look good, was my thought, even though I hadn't trained at all.

The day of the race came. I felt pretty emotional, but I started off. It wasn't long before some guy started to run next to me. I wasn't in the talkin' mood, which was unusual for me because I was on the verge of tears. However, this guy was very talkative. He kept making remarks on how tired he was, and I must be tired too. The chatter went on and on. The race was over, and lo and behold, this guy's wife won! I was just happy to finish and keep my promise to Todd.

I came home, and my neighbor asked about the race. I told him what had happened and how this guy would not shut up his negative talk. My neighbor laughed and set me straight, "Kay, don't you know what this guy was doing? He thought you were the competition by the way you were dressed. He wanted his wife to win." Oh really!?!?

The following year I did train. I even bought some tapes called "Win At Sports" and listened to them daily. If this guy thought I was in the competition, you could bet I was going to be in the competition. His attitude in that race built a fire in me! The race was on!!

When it was time for the race, I was all dressed and ready. It was freezing cold that day, but I didn't care. I took off all my warm clothes and ran with only a sleeveless shirt and shorts on. Nothing was going to weigh me down.

The tapes I listened to talked about how to run your race. It gave ideas about staying behind and knowing when to make your move. I played the race over and over in my mind when I listened to the tapes. Now the time had come to put it into practice.

I stayed behind this guy's wife almost the whole race. I kept her in view but stayed close behind. Then I saw HIM! There her husband was on the curb and not in the race like the year before. I'll never forget his words to his wife, "Watch out; she's right behind you." Well, mister, not anymore! Those were the words I needed to hear. I ran right past her and won the race!

God knew what would motivate me to run. I found that running relieved the stress I was feeling. I would finish my practice run and fall on the grass, and cry my eyes out. God brought me comfort and stress relief through running; He knew what I needed.

St Helena Day

by Kay Heitsch

After many years of putting off a project, I decided to "Just Do It." I went down the basement and dug up a big tub full of photos I had taken over the years. I was looking for some graduation party pictures to put back in the photo albums.

As I was looking for the pictures, I found several photos I'd forgotten I'd taken. I smiled as I recalled some extraordinary people and memories. One picture was of my friend, Maria, and her mom, Helena. Helena had passed on several years before. I decided to just take a picture of this picture on my phone and send it to Maria.

Imagine my surprise when I got this text back from Maria. "Thanks, Kay. Today is my mother's "name day." St Helena's day. I feel like I just got a message from her as well as you. xoxoxo See, God uses you in so many ways. :)"

The Pictures

 by Kay Heitsch

It was almost our daughter Shannon's high school graduation in 1995. We had decided to have a graduation party for her in the fellowship hall at the church. I'd attended a few graduation parties, so I had some idea what people did. I wanted this to be a special time for Shannon.

Over the years, I've been a big picture taker. In fact, people called me "Camera Kay" because I always had the camera with me. I'd been very diligent writing on the back of each picture and put them right in a photo album almost as soon as I picked up the photos from the store. As you might imagine, I had lots and lots of pictures of Shannon.

I thought it would be nice to go through the pictures and put up a kind of "This Is Your Life" picture collection on several wall dividers in the church for the graduation party. These dividers were huge and stretched across most of one end of the fellowship hall. I would need a lot of pictures, but I knew I had them.

I got the old albums out and started to go through each one. I took small zip lock baggies and organized the pictures. I made sure I wrote the number of the album on the back of each photograph so it wouldn't be a big deal putting them back. I had a baby, school, fun with friends, amusement park, family fun, etc.

The day of the party arrived, and I must say people seemed to enjoy looking at all the pictures. Now the party was over. I took the pictures down and put them in the little baggies with a post-it note in each, saying what they were. I took them home.

Life was pretty hectic during this time, so I neglected to put the pictures back in the albums. Bill had been transferred, our house had sold, so we would be moving in less than a month. Shannon went off to Ohio State that next fall.

I was always doing some kind of busy work using my hands. I like it, but my hands did not. I developed carpal tunnel, so doing any sort of fine motor skill thing was very painful. I thought about the pictures but didn't want to deal with the pain of putting them back in the photo albums.

Life happened again, and now we were moving back to Michigan. I still hadn't put the pictures back in the photo albums. I'd lined the photo albums up in two bookcases, but those pictures of Shannon were still not in them. Not to worry, I thought as I had a real good idea where they were.

We were having our deck refinished. Jeff, one of the guys working on the deck, called and said he would like to bring a friend and do some sanding if I would be home. For some reason, I thought, "Great, I'll just go down and get those pictures and put them in the photo albums!" I thought I knew exactly where they were, so I would be HAPPY to finally get this project accomplish after so many years.

Down to the basement, I went. I could hardly carry the big blue tub holding pictures I hadn't put into photo albums. I was sure I'd find the little zip-lock bags with the graduation party pictures in them. I didn't!

I did find some pictures and sent them to people on the phone and on FB. I was happy I could bring a smile to them, but I'm still looking for the graduation party pictures.

I'm praying to find them, but I believe something good will come out of all this while I'm still looking.

Special Memories of Madelyn

by Kay Heitsch

When Madelyn* walked into the room, everyone knew that an elegant, refined lady was present. She carried herself in such a way that grace and poise were evident with every step she took. Even when the Alzheimer's disease took over more of her mind, some of the clothes Madelyn selected to wear were not exactly matching. Even still, you felt it must be a "new look" of a fashion magazine's front page by the way she carried herself.

Because Madelyn's shopping instinct never left, she was known for going from resident to resident's rooms and "shopping" through their closets, and taking whatever looked pretty. She would often say as she took something, "Oh, this is pretty." It wasn't long before I would see her walking down the hallways with several things over her arm that she had "shopped" for. Finding where they all belonged could be quite a task. Finding where she decided to deposit them was yet another.

Music was a big part of Madelyn's life. She loved music and dancing. I kept the music playing in the room, and she would dance every day. I would see this smile come to her face, and her eyes would light up when she heard the music. Madelyn would glide around the room by herself with some unseen visitor. Often, I would tell her that if she led, I would dance with her. Some days Madelyn would sit in the chair by the window and stare out, listening to the music. I felt this gave her time to relax, as she usually walked nonstop.

Madelyn had special children who would come and visit. I would enjoy seeing how nice she looked whenever her daughter came and dressed her. Madelyn was always happy to see her little dog and her youngest granddaughter. This little girl certainly had grandma's sense of style. It was good to see Madelyn's family take her for walks and come to the gatherings we had at the Memory Care Center.

The disease progressed quite rapidly for Madelyn. It wasn't long before she no longer "shopped" or walked. It was sad to see her in the wheelchair. However, to the end, Madelyn still held her hands in just the right way, and you knew she was a lady of refinement.

* Names have been changed

To Sell or Not to Sell?

by Kay Heitsch

"I don't know if we should put our house up for sale or not; what do you think?" This was a question I heard many times as I walked with my friend, Jena*. The economy wasn't all that great, so it didn't seem like the perfect time to list a house.

I certainly didn't have an answer to this question, but I listened to all the reasons why Jena thought she should try and list the house.

One day after being asked what I thought she should do again, I said, "Listen, put the house in the Lord's hands. If He wants you to sell the house, he can bring someone to your door." Really? Did I say that? Oh yes, I did, but I wasn't really sure why. At first, I thought I was tired of being asked the question, but now the words were out.

The house next door to my friend had sold. Ed* Jena's husband walked over to meet the new people. While he was in the house, he noticed that there was some remodeling being done. Ed asked about the people who were doing the remodeling. He wondered if they might be able to come over and estimate some work he wanted to be done if they actually did put the house on the market.

To Ed's surprise, the guy said the people doing the remodeling were his parents.

Ed and Jena started to take down some wallpaper in their kitchen when the doorbell rang. When they answered the door, it was the parents of the guy next door. They came in and looked around. Ed and Jena explained that they were "thinking" about putting the house on the market, but they wanted to do some upgrading first.

Much to their amazement, these people said that they were looking to move near their son because the mom had cancer. They told Ed and Jena that they were going on a short vacation, and when they came back, they would let them know if they would buy their house for cash. They also told them to stop all the work they were doing on the house to fix it up. They told them that they would be tearing down the walls etc., if they bought it.

The waiting began, but soon this couple was back from their trip. They came over and offered Ed and Jena the price they were asking for.

If you asked me if I believed God could or would bring someone to the door and ask to buy the house, I would say yes! But when it actually happened, I was blown away. :D

The Sisters

by Kay Heitsch

Over the years, I have met some fascinating people. Two of the most interesting were two elderly sisters who lived in Dover. I'm not really sure how I became acquainted with them, to be honest, but their way of talking about people inspired me.

It was always a pleasure to visit these two sisters. Just being greeted at the door was a joy. I remember well how happy they were when I came to visit. I always heard about the people who had been there before me. Each and every person was talked about positively. The conversation would go something like this, "Oh Kay, so and so was here yesterday. She is just the " salt of the earth," isn't she, sister?" The other sister would reply, "Oh yes, she is! Kay, you just can't believe how wonderful so and so is." I never heard these two sisters say a negative word about anyone. NEVER!

I understood why these two had so much company when other people complained that no one cared about them. It was their attitude towards people. I had no doubt when the next person came to visit that they were going to hear how I was the "salt of the earth" and how happy they were that I had stopped by to visit.

What an excellent example these two sisters were to me. I'll be forever grateful that God allowed me to know them.

The Hug

by Kay Heitsch

The phone rang, it was Bea, my 86 year old friend calling. Bea was wondering if I could take her to Flint to see the eye doctor. I assured her I could, so I drove over to her home on the date of the appointment to pick her up.

Bea's eyesight was failing, so she wasn't able to drive her car anymore. However, she still kept her old white Cadillac and insisted that I drive it whenever we went anywhere.

Bea's appointment went well, and we were on our way to get a bite to eat. It was a cloudy day, but we didn't have any rain or snow. The traffic was stopped and go as we were in an area by the mall. We were at a complete stop when someone hit us from behind. Bea was furious, to put it mildly. She started to call this person a few choice names. I could tell this situation could get very ugly.

Flint is a town that, on occasions, has been listed as #1 in murders/crime/arson for its size in the USA. Detroit has a slogan about being bad, but at least not as bad as Flint.

There really wasn't any reason why someone should rear-end the car, so I wasn't sure what was going on when I pulled over. I was feeling a little tense when I got out of the vehicle. As I walked around the car, a young black woman got out of the car with an attitude! I could see all the other doors on her car starting to open. For some reason, I walked over to this young woman, put my arms around her, and gave her a hug. When I gave her a hug, all the other doors shut!

Bea got out, and when she saw me hugging this girl, she calmed down. I called the police, and they came out and took a report.

I really don't know what was actually going on that day. I believe the Lord put the thought to hug this girl in my mind. I also believe the hug saved us all from what could have been a very uncomfortable scene.