“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Corinthians
This is my tennis friend, who recently lost her home in a fire.
She wanted to take a picture of me, but I insisted we take a selfie even though she preferred otherwise. I admire her so much.
We met today to share lunch in her backyard, in between phone calls and her next appointment with a contractor. I was deeply moved and humbled by her patience, sweetness, grace and faith.
She found two plastic chairs that survived the fire in her little shed, and we sat in the shade and drank lemonade, watching a hummingbird flit around the yard and admiring her banana tree that was about to produce fruit. Some things survived.
The house is a complete loss. I peeked in to see the damage and was struck by the severity of it. The walls and roof are still standing, but the contents are all disintegrated, with soot and broken glass everywhere. Yet there were a few signs of the life once lived there, like the cloth bag hanging by the inside door handle, that she probably used regularly, waiting for her to take out shopping. I didn’t like seeing such destruction and loss.
The backyard provided refuge and I enjoyed being out there with her for a short while. She has a long road in front of her, working out the details of recovery and rebuilding. But I have faith that she will do well and face the challenge with positivity and grace. She already is. And she’s one smart woman! I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her!
Adriana, what can we do to help this friend of yours? Can we donate items, or is there a fund somewhere? How devastating, she is so lucky to have a friend like you. You are so much like your mom
Love, Carina
Carina!! I love your name… thank you for writing. She is trying to find housing right now and nothing is set up yet for donations. Thank you for thinking of her and offering to help. And thank you for the compliments. My mom is a wonderful woman and role model for all of us women!! xo
Yes, I was thinking the same thing last night. I have some blankets and other things that I can donate… She is blessed to have you in her life Adriana… Let me know if I can do anything.. Xo
That was a lovely message about Suzanne. I Have known her about 30 yrs. & also sang in a group with her-a very caring person. Pat
Sent from my iPhone
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An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been doing a little
homework on this. And he actually bought me breakfast simply because I discovered it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah,
thanks for spending time to talk about this issue here on
your web site.