a lady, the muppets, & some flowers.

quote of the day:

“watch out for each other. love and forgive everybody. it’s a good life, enjoy it!” ~ Jim Henson (the guy who created the muppets!)

• FAST from over-using technology today. (Don’t check Facebook frequently; talk to your coworkers instead of sending an e-mail; turn off your cell phone during meals; etc.)
• PRAY for people who are shut-in or lonely.
• GIVE a handwritten note or card to someone who has made you smile this week.

it is a beautiful, beautiful day in sweden. a real spring day. i believe the warmest day of the year so far (16/61). and that means that this morning, as i read blogs and did a little work at home, the windows were open & bluegrass music was blasting through my speakers. it was so wonderful.

and then, it was time for a walk in the sunny, warm afternoon. as i walked with my love to her meeting, an elderly woman stopped to ask us if we knew where her daughter was – she thought that they were supposed to meet today. now, we didn’t know this lady at all, and it was obvious that she was quite confused. we got her to tell us her daughter’s name & lina looked it up on her phone, hoping to find a phone number. no luck. or, we found the name, but no number. or something like that. turns out her daughter lives in another city. the woman was so, so confused and upset. we discovered that she lived nearby (we hoped), & lina told her to go home & call her daughter to see if they were going to meet today or not. as we were saying goodbye to her and started to walk off, the lady stumbled & began to fall. thankfully, lina & i were still close enough to grab her before she fell to the ground. we felt terrible sending her on her way, but there was nothing else to do.

lina had to go to her meeting. i was so unsure about being with the elderly woman alone, because she was very hard to understand. i felt that trying to communicate with her would just upset both of us. but i waited a little bit in the square, and watched the lady shuffle off, her cane in her left hand & a bag in her right.

i felt a little like a spy, but i followed behind her. we suspected that she lived at a retirement/nursing home around the corner from us. it took quite a while for her to walk, but i kept an eye on her & moved really close to her every time she was crossing a street, so i could be there… just in case.

when she passed the retirement home & kept walking, fear and uncertainty circled in my head. where was she going? did she even know? just as i was about to approach her & talk with her again, she stopped in front of a building and looked up at the number that stood above the door. 24B. she was on one of the streets she had mentioned in our earlier conversation, but it was not the retirement home. she obviously decided that she had reached the correct place & began searching for her keys. with perfect timing, a young man walked up & punched in the code, opened the door, and the lady made her way in. i felt better, but not completely at ease. i walked over to the door & looked at the names that stood above the keypad for the code. and there it was. her last name. or actually, her daughter’s last name. finally, i could exhale again. the sweet, confused lady was home. safe & sound.

with that little adventure complete, i headed downtown to grab a chai latte and find a sunny spot to sit & soak up the rest of the moments of my afternoon & say a little prayer for those who are lonely or need a little extra love in life. oh, and you know i took some pics.

somedays i am blown away when i realize, once again, that i live here.

as for enjoying life, i’ve got a challenge and the fulfillment of a dream planned for this evening… i’ve signed up for a yoga/meditation course and tonight is my first class. i’m so excited & a tiny bit anxious because i have no idea what to expect. but, it feels amazing to finally follow through on something that i have wanted to do for so long now. and finally, the timing is right. i am certain that this is going to be a very inspiring & interesting evening, which will probably involve a lot of processing and reflecting on my part afterwards.

ok. time to get ready. have a great evening. wishing you love & peace.