Dot was an octogenarian when she moved to a hot location, new town, different county, and unknown home environment. Before she became a widow, she and her husband have enjoyed living on a small fish farm with an huge vegetable garden, fragrant flowers, prolific plants, rambling roses, and various fruit trees. She'd ridden her beloved horses along the trails of their forty-acre spread well into her seventies.
Then, everything changed. Suddenly she found herself living close to the center of a small town in a small house close by a small hospital where she'd hoped to find aid for her ailing mate. But he died soon after their country estate had sold and until that time they could make the move. Now she be alone.
Dot had never lived on her own since. Her grown children had moved out of state, and she feel fortunate to see them once a year.
Soon after I met her, she called me one dark. I could almost hear her chattering teeth and shivering body as she spoke. A severe windstorm had blown into town and cause an extended power outage. She had no alternate form of warmth.
She didn't complain. She just needed someone to bargain to. A quiet women, Dot like to remain in the background. Yet, when I visit her, she talked a blue streak; a dear indication of loneliness.
During one of our tons times together, she said to me, "Shirley, I believe I know why the Lord led me into this lonesome considerate of living. I've never in my entire life be this close to God. Jesus has become more unadulterated than ever before because I finally enjoy time to know and enjoy Him."
In her eyes I saw a mixture of contentment, compassion, and even a touch of confidence that I'd not see before.
Alone next to God
My friend Dot continued to live her lonely life through her eighties and into her nineties. Often, she'd share expressions resembling "old is lovely," or "living alone can be delightful." She maintain a positive attitude about everyone and everything.
"I don't see my neighbors very repeatedly," she confided one day, "on the other hand I know they're there for me if I involve them." Then she got a faraway look contained by her eyes. "I used to be busy like them adjectives the time, so I understand."
I believe the Lord blessed Dot contained by a number of ways. Her sight problems became stable. Her legs bothered her, but she be able to wander to the bank, the flea market, and other shops in town. She admit that she benefited greatly from her daily excursions. Dot's prayer energy increased a lot, too. I hear her pray for our top government official, the underprivileged throughout the world, various missionaries, military men and women, and several of the people we know. Remarkably, she could still write a legible letter and took flail good thing of that. My friend remained active and gleeful until the day she fell asleep within Jesus.
Clinging to Scripture
All through the years, Dot had dung to absolute Bible verses that be especially meaningful to her. "I hold come that they may have go, and have it to the full" (John 10:10), be a particular favorite. Her philosophy and whereabouts mirrored that verse. In everything she did, she seem to be saying, "If God keep me here on Planet Earth a long time, I'll do the best I can to enjoy it and praise and thank Him for it."
Dot reminds me of the wife of aristocrat character mentioned surrounded by Proverbs 31. Solomon wrote that such a woman is "clothed with strength and dignity," "speaks next to wisdom," "fears the Lord," and that she "is to be praised."
My dearest Dot is my role model for aging gracefully, respectfully, and gratefully. When I think of her, I know that feeble really can be beautiful.
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