It's been a hard year for me. My parents have been ill, I've gone back and forth to California several times. My partner has had some personal issues. But I think the hardest part came 2 days ago when an angel I knew passed. I won't give the link to the story to respect her privacy, you can google it if you like. But I feel it is a story that should be told.
I didn't know Sharri well. She worked at my condo as a dog walker and did personal errands for some of the residents there. She was likely in some way mentally handicapped, walked with difficulty. She was there at the condo almost 7 days a week, she would take the bus in early in the morning, return during the day to take her dog out, come back and stay until evening. Every day. Some people at the Condo really loved her, many never gave her the time of day. The people she worked for were maybe too infirm or too busy to really notice. You would think it a gated community, people could have taken up a collection for her to take a cab the 2 miles to and from home, but I guess not. Every day, she would walker over to the grocery store some 5 minutes away, she would come back lugging heavy bags over a very busy roadway or lug heavy bags home, every day, whether it was 102 and 22 degrees.
Sharri was truly an angel. She never complained, never had a bad word to say about anyone. She treasured the dog she inherited from one of the people she worked for. She was quite religious but never pushy about them - in fact she was the spirit of true religion, always generous, always wishing people well. She was the epitome of innocence, like of out Mice and Men. She had blessings to wish to everyone.
She spoke little of her family. They had either disowned her or were dead. She could be seen on the property on any given holiday. She only had her dog.
I came to know her over the years as I'd see her dragging those heavy bags. Whenever my partner or I could, we'd take her to the grocery store or home. But sadly we couldn't be there every time. I saw her just 2 weeks ago before I came to California. I dropped her off and she wished me and my parents blessings. She thanked me profusely as she walked off into the night.
And then on Tuesday, she was struck and killed by a car as she crossed the road, her groceries and shoes strewn on the roadway. The driver, whether (s)he faces charges are not, will live with this forever. Logically I know I can do nothing but I still wish I could have been there to give her a ride and kept this from happening. This, by the way, was the second death in this area in 2 years. The city still will not put in a crosswalk on this very busy road. People continue to drive without regard to pedestrians. This time the rushing cost a life.
It is so hard when we lose the best and most decent among us. She didn't have a dime but was the richest person I know.
When I think of her, I think of a poem I like very much by Timothy Steele, Toward the Winter Solstice, which ends
Some wonder if the star of Bethlehem
Occurred when Jupiter and Saturn crossed;
It's comforting to look up from this roof
And feel that, while all changes, nothing's lost,
To recollect that in antiquity
The winter solstice fell in Capricorn
And that, in the Orion Nebula,
From swirling gas, new stars are being born.
I know the universe was enriched because she was here. I know where she is now, be it in heaven or part of a larger cosmos, she adds a new source of light to it.