Paying it forward Christmas Day Eleven
“It is important that we learn humility, which says there was someone else before me who paid for me. My responsibility is to prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who is yet to come.”—Maya Angelou
At Christmas, I often remember special friends who have died. I remember Sylvia, whom I dearly loved for many years. We worked together early in my ministry, and she taught me about servant leadership. She was a single mom, a nurse, and a caregiver like none other. She was a visitor from St. Margaret’s to the sick to say prayers. However, she became more like a parish nurse, being an advocate in the hospital for the medical condition of those with whom she said prayers. Sylvia would go to nursing stations and let anyone know what “her patients” needed.
We started a 12-step group at our church, which only lasted about four months. Sylvia was one of the first to come to it, and was in recovery for the rest of her life. We always believed we started it just for her, and never regretted any effort we put into it.
Sylvia loved us, but more than us, she loved her grandchildren, whom she talked about almost constantly.
She died too early while her grandchildren were still young. Somehow I stay connected to her family and know a little about her oldest granddaughter. I intermittently write to Darcy and tell her some stories about her grandmother, but I especially tell her how much Sylvia loved and adored her. I honestly believe Sylvia has somehow been “suggesting” that I do this the way she made “suggestions” so well in her physical life. This is precisely what she would tell me to do if she were physically beside me.
Sylvia wants her grandchildren, Jack and Darcy, to know how much they were and are still loved. In turn, Sylvia reminds us that we can do the same. When I remember Sylvia’s untimely death, I am moved to call, text, email, or visit my own grandchildren, as I remember what a privilege it is to let them know they are loved.
This was my Christmas present this year, and for many years to come from Sylvia.