Gratitude

On December 12 I got a phone call from Melissa Terry, my niece. She said that her mother, my sister Lavene Bell, was failing and that the doctors only gave her a few days to live. She had been on kidney dialysis for 7 or 8 years and had diabetes. I had bee planning on going to Seattle to see her between Christmas and New Years. This phone call caused me to change my plans. I flew out of Salt Lake the next day. I spent a week with her as she continued to fail and on December 18 she passed peacefully from this life.

During the week I spent with her I had an opportunity to observe and remember some things about her. For years she had sent candy as Christmas presents to many people. I have no idea how large her list grew to but I know that she purchased more than a hundred pounds of chocolate every year. When her health would no longer allow her to complete her yearly task of making candy she enlisted her daughters to make chocolate turtles. Finally when even that was too much she bought See's candy for those she just could not fail to send something. Apparently her daughter, Janath Nadeau started making "potato" bags. These are cloth bags that you put potatoes in for microwaving. For those people that she wished to give something to that had not been included on her candy list, she asked Jan to make potato bags to send them. It seemed like everyone who had performed any service for her in the convalescent home got a potato bag. As she got weaker and weaker I saw her whispering in her husband or daughters ear and the next day a new supply of potato bags would appear. I understand that Jan made about 20 of them and I don't know how many other daughters made.

She had such a drive to show everyone who did anything for her how much she appreciated it. This poem was an expression of what I observed.

Gale L. Wolfenbarger

23 December 2008

 

 

Gratitude

 

 Thank you is a special phrase we use most every day.

We thank the man who holds the door or sweeps the snow away.

We thank our children for colored cards and little acts they do.

We thank our neighbors for special gifts wrapped in gold and blue.

 

A word of thanks imparted may warm the weary heart

A smile that says I appreciate you will often friendship start.

Some give thanks in other ways in things they do and say

In little acts of kindness they share with us each day.

 

Some make lists of those, whose job it is to serve,

Who make them feel that serving them is the least that they deserve.

They remember service given them whether great or small

And seek to find ways to repay those who serve beyond the call.

 

My sister was just such a one who sought to thank all those

Who served her in the smallest way, her gratitude to show.

It might have been a simple card to let them know that she

Appreciated all they did for her and for her family.

 

But cards and letters weren't the end of tokens she would send

Her candies were the best you'd find no matter what you spend.

Every year our Christmas starts with a box of snowy white

Filled with home-made chocolates that promise to delight.

 

She never failed to remember those who kindness had her shown

Or who in just the smallest way had helped one of her own.

As her health began to fail and age had cramped her hands

To her family fell the task of gratitude's demands.

 

Her eyes grew dim but still she saw those who served her well

Her family's task grew until the end was more than they could tell.

Even to her final days her list just grew and grew

About the last words I heard her say were "please don't forget to"...

 

Gale L. Wolfenbarger

18 December 2008