Miracle Bench and Better Shared
Miracle Bench
I think of myself as having mastered both walking and talking. At the end of every trip, I would walk down the stairs to the deck to feel the breeze and see and hear the sound of the wind, the waves, and the boats. Unfortunately, unexpected health-related issues curbed this enjoyment for the past year and a half. And, when I did try to walk to the deck, my body refused. How many times did I say I wish there was a bench before the stairs, so I could relax after my walk, enjoy the environment, while meeting and talking to my neighbors?
Well, thanks to some neighborhood association board members, supported by many of our neighbors, a miracle happened. A lovely bench was erected exactly where I always dreamed it to be and I use it every day.
P.F. of Michigan
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Better Shared
My favorite bench is in no way ornate. It is simple and functional, hardly what one might call beautiful. Yet it places me in the lap of beauty. From late spring to early autumn, you’ll find me many mornings sitting on my friend at the edge of our prayer garden, content with a cup of coffee and a book of inspiration. It’s a comfortable seat amid flowers and trees, robins and sparrows, a special place where I feel melded with nature.
This summer I have come to share the bench with our grandson Henry. He is at a positively delightful age, two and a fraction, and as we sit and take in the glory of the garden, I point out all of the varieties that bloom before us. Then he takes me by the hand and says, “Grandpa, come.” We make a circuit of the stepping stones that Teresa has placed around the birdbath, and Henry announces columbine and daisies. I show him Maltese cross and orange globe mallow. We circle five, six, seven times, calling out the names of the flowers each time, before we return to our resting place. There, he sits close, resting his hand on my wrist as he looks around, ready to tell me more about this world so new to him.
E.S. of Wyoming
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