Sunday morning I woke to a moody sky. The kind that dresses in pussy willow grey, dusted with pink from the sunrise. I quite like that kind of sky especially on a morning when I can afford to luxuriate under my down comforter. Did I mention I have a large, southern window; I get to lie in bed and watch the happenings going on in the sky above the cliffs east of us. I do my best contemplating in that cocoon.
That particular morning I was musing around at what would it be like for people to get a glimpse into my life. If they were a fly on the wall what would they see? Then my mind went to an incident my daughter had told me a bout a few years ago.
During that swatch of time things were not going that well for me. You know how it can get, being so tired all the time, feeling like no matter what I did my health decided to betray me. It just felt like everything I touched turned to stone. My feet were clay and my hands were worse.
I had been airing some of my discouragement to one of my older daughters when she stopped me. She turned to me and said “Mama, I want to tell you something I saw a few months ago.”
She reminded me of the time one of her mothers had had an accident at work. It was pretty bad. There were several surgeries involved, trips to the doctor, trips to the hospital, and trips to the University of Utah Hospital some three hundred miles away. This mother was in pain, facing some lifestyle changes and in need of comfort.
It was an early spring night, still cold out, still reaching freezing temperatures. This lady was home after a trip to Salt Lake for one of her surgeries. We were waiting for one of our other ladies to get home from work; she’s a nurse who works in critical care at the hospital 50 minutes away. The dressing on the wound needed changed and checked before this lady could settle in for the night. She was in some pretty healthy pain and wanted to take her medication and just go to sleep. So I decided to move ahead and start changing the dressing while we waited for the other one’s arrival. When I went into the other room to get the supplies I realized we were out of saline solution to clean the wound. A sister wife offered to go and get some for us even though it was late at night. This sister wife bumped in to my daughter who was coming off her shift at our community’s clinic. Upon hearing of our situation at our house she decided to come over on her way home and check on “things at Daddy’s”.
When she got to the house she walked on in and came over to the bedroom door, quietly stepped inside and observed. By that time our nurse had arrived home and we were in full swing of doing what needed to be done. What she was witnessing is what moved her heart. Here was a person in pain and in need, there were two ladies aiding and addressing the injury, carefully removing the packing and the gauze from surgery sites, gently washing the areas with the saline solution retrieved by the sister wife. Another wife was hovering about the perimeter of the room, quietly taking care of the necessary items left from dinner, from liquids and from convalescence. It was a family at work, women doing what comes naturally, nurturing, caring for each other. It was home.
My daughter spoke with true emotion in her voice, “Mama, here were four ladies coming together seeing to the needs of one of their own. It didn’t matter about idiosyncrasies, or personalities, these things just didn’t exist. It was love and service. It was plural marriage at work. You may have been too busy to notice the spirit that was in that room…but I did. It reaffirmed to me why I want this in my life.”
Not every day is taken up with such vivid needs, but every day gives us the opportunity and ability to extend and to enjoy the warmth of each other’s association. There is so much I am grateful for in the little things of life. Small things like the whisper of slippers on the tile, the aroma of tea on the stove, or the heavenly scent of fresh bread baking in our ovens, regular as clock work on Wednesdays and Saturdays, each batch by a different mother. It is the little things in life that make a family a family and as they say… “God is in the details.”
I hope that some of these sentiments come through my postings on this blog. This is the side of life I want to share. Thank you for reading. ~A Women’s Place~
Merrywives' Blog 
Wow..I really enjoy reading your posts “a woman’s place” 😉
Thanks Mark. Especially now, the time of year, the holidays and all that goes around, it seems that the heart is soft and fills easily. Out of love comes service, but out of service comes love. At least that is the effect I’ve found in my life.
I have had so many of these moments in my life, I don’t think I can even try to count them. I wish I could show people why this is such a happy way to live. You can use words to best describe it, but unless they have had similar in their own lives, how will they be able to feel the emotions and feelings that go with it. But here goes….
I recently have recovered from having a baby. Due to complications, the recovery time was looking like it could possibly end up being 3 full months before I could resume many of my usual “helpings around the house”. I have a sister who bent over backwards to take care of me and “my” responsiblities, fully expecting to pick up after me for several months. I recovered very well, so was able to return to my responsiblities in a matter of weeks. My sisters response: “You jipped me out of helping you!!” And teasing me about not letting her carry the full load said: “I had all these plans to take care of you, and you, being you, figured out how to interfere ;)”.
What a true blessing it is to live with friends!!! Something I wouldn’t be paid to trade.
A true jewel in the family crown. To share a bond of such a nature only strengthens the foundation in your children’s lives. Blessings to you.