Now, every year she comes with a walker and a slight tremble in her voice to the reunion. Her eyes are bright and follow every movement. Her expressions show awe and wonder at everything, and her smile always seems to be meant just for you.
She saw me working at the computer in the corner of the dining room and came over, “What are you doing pecking away at that thing?”
“Well, Betty, I’m growing a social network around wisdom and happiness.”
“That sounds interesting even though I haven’t a clue what that is. Show me”
So I pulled up a chair and showed her my Facebook page, how I find things to post, how I create a post and the likes, loves and comments. She oowed and ahhed and asked questions, and when she was done, she leaned back and said, ”Whew, I really don’t understand it, but it seems like a lot of work. Why do you do it?”
“Well, Betty, I have been blessed with great teachers and wonderful experiences. Now that I have the time, I want to give something back, to share some lessons learned and some happiness – to contribute somehow.”
“Contributing is important, Bob. I don’t have the energy I used to have, and my voice isn’t as strong as it used to be, but with these youngins I hope I can still say something to them that helps contribute.”
We sat for a moment, and I got a beep from the computer, turned to it and said offhandedly, “Oh, Betty, you never need to worry about that; whenever you just walk into a room, you brighten every face and lighten every heart – I’d call that contributing.”
The silence got my attention, so I looked up. She was looking at me with the sweetest smile and the softest eyes that had teared up. I kinda teared up, too.
Then she took a deep breath, wiped the tear away, reached out, gently touched my arm, and mouthed, ‘Thank you.” Then she gathered herself up, took hold of her walker handles and shuffled off to the other side of the room to see what God was doing over there.
...That’s Betty.
