Say So

I received a phone call yesterday telling me of the passing of a woman that I have admired since the day I met her. Thirteen years ago when both of my children were babies I quit work to stay home with them full time. No regrets there. About seven years later, as the kids were both in school all day, I decided I needed to find something to do for myself. I found an ad in our church bulletin looking for some one with lab experience to volunteer in a prenatal clinic once or twice a month. Perfect! So I applied and met Pat. Pat was a retired RN who managed a pro-life prenatal clinic in a rough area of Minneapolis. The clinic did no preaching. They quite simply provided prenatal care and various support services to women who were struggling but wanted to have healthy pregnancies. Some of those women were very young, many with difficult financial circumstances. Most kept their babies, some opted for adoption. All received excellent health care thanks to Pat. All were greeted by name with a smile, often a hug and always a hot lunch thanks to Pat. Every woman near the end of her pregnancy received a box of new baby clothes, blankets and a toy thanks to the donations collected by Pat. She listened to their worries and helped them find solutions. She had the biggest heart and was the holiest woman I've ever known. I am so fortunate to have loved her and I know she loved me too. She never missed an opportunity to say so.
I took the rest of the afternoon off from house work and went to a park along the Mississippi River near the clinic where I volunteered with Pat. I needed to see some life and some beauty.
The sky was so blue it almost hurt my eyes. The river was open and reflected the old water works plant on the other side.
There were mallards swimming along the ice floats. Males were squawking over the females. This one wanted two girls for himself and chased away every drake that swam near!
There were tree sparrows eating the dead heads that poked up through the deep snow. I took 53 sparrow pictures to get just this one that I liked!

After soaking up some more sun I went home and hugged and kissed my kids. And now I will tell you all, my blogging friends, how much I appreciate your words and pictures and kind comments. This is an amazing blog community and I am lucky and happy to be a part of it.