Blessed by a Chinaberry

I had big plans this week as I was getting settled into the mountains. Let's see . . .I was going to go to the Asheville Quilt Guild on Tuesday and listen to a speaker talk about her strip quilts and then I was going to get my hair colored on Wednesday and on Thursday I was going to go to the Hendersonville Guild and hear Linda Cantrell talk (it doesn't matter talk about WHAT because she's funny no matter what her topic). And then I got a call telling me that my brother's mother-in-law had died in Charleston.

Now I didn't struggle about whether or not I would go back to Charleston--I knew I would--but I did struggle about all of the things I was going to miss. I have been working so hard on just living in the moment--and wouldn't you know? I'm getting plenty of opportunities to put it to the test. So, we got in the car and got back there in time to take supper to my brother and his family (and ,coincidentally, eat that food with them and have a really nice time).

The next day at the funeral, my niece went around to each woman and handed her a chinaberry necklace. These necklaces had been made by her grandmother (the deceased), Georgie. This had been her hobby for many years and she would take them to the Market on Saturdays and sell them until she was physically no longer able to do it. These necklaces we were given were her expression of art. During his homily, the pastor mentioned Georgie's love of doing this and without exception, every woman's hand went to her neck and touched her gift of a chinaberry necklace. It was a powerful moment and it was at that precise point that I knew that the trip to Charleston had a value beyond measure.