Saturday, February 09, 2008

A Tale of Two Phone Calls

Today was a pretty good Saturday morning. I got up and made breakfast for Tom and I. I called my mom like I normally do on Saturdays. She’s always so happy to hear from me. Today was no different, except her confusion was more than usual. She thought I was still living in Haiti. She asked how old I was when I came here to the states. This in the same conversation she asked about Tom and kids and knew their names. Tom could tell I was trying to keep it together on the phone. I calmly reassured her of the way things are. She was grateful. I started to cry. I got off the phone and my wonderful husband held me and told me it was okay.

There is a fine line between pain and joy, tears and laughter. If you know my hubby, you know that he’s serious in nature. On occasion he’s known to say something funny, but on the most part he’s intense. I love him just the way that he is. John Paul Jackson (founder of Streams) has a blog called, “Coffee Talk with John Paul.” Tom was up last night catching up on his previous posts and commenting. He was up at until almost three o’clock in the morning. If you have the time, please click here to check out this post about spirituality. I say all that to describe to you the next thing that happened.

Tom had his laptop out and was describing to me how he couldn’t sleep. He wrote the following comment to John Paul’s post on spirituality at 2:46 am. I use this with his permission.

Well said my friend, every day we choose… Where will we feed today? From the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil OR from the Tree of Life?

* Dialing, dialing…
* Ringing, ringing…
* "Hello, Eden Cafe how may I help you?"
* "I'd like to make a reservation, please."
* "I'm sorry sir but all our tables at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil are booked for the evening."
* "Bummer."
* "But I have plenty of openings at our sister shop, the Tree of Life, would you like a table?
* "Hmmm, what will I do?

(Psst… here's a hint…)

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deut. 30:9)

Choose life!

I laughed my butt off after he read the first two lines and continued throughout this response. Thank you honey for the laugh. He knew his phone call comment would get me out of the dept of despair I was feeling. This is one of the reasons why I love him so.

© Nadine Z. 2008

15 comments:

Emancipation of the Freed said...

Glad I could brighten your day and bring a smile to your face. I love you!

Tom

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

What a wonderful husband you have--but I guess you knew that already ;)

Kate said...

I visited "Spirituality." I enjoyed it very much. I am currently taking a theology course on the History of Christian Spirituality, and have been under intense conviction I might add...spiritual disciplines seem to me to be a sort of conquering of that dark side...and I currently reside at 50% warrior, and 50% traitor. My heart weeps from deep within because of my failure, but understand that it only keeps me a the foot of the cross. So, this article was timely for me. I shared it with my classmates because I believe we all could gain some insight from it.

I'm walking through the same horrible disease with a couple friends of mine. It's heartbreaking, but one of my friends has told me that as much as she tries to bring her granny back to reality, it didn't work, so she began to remember the happy times they experienced right where her granny's mind is stuck. It's made caring for her lighter. I don't suppose it's ever easy, but I pray you find the peace (which passes understanding) that you need in the midst of the changes before you.
luv ya,
~Kate

Scarlet said...

What a bittersweet post. Your husband is gifted and loving, something that comes from choosing the right tree. ;)

I'll pop into that spirituality site now!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad he could cheer you up. There is something about those wonderful hubbys whose charm and humor sift their way into our lives and know how to make us smile and feel better.

Jen(n) said...

We love you both very much. You two are so perfect for each other!! Way to go Tom!

ps... Ty is sitting next to me and wants credit for this comment!!

Ann(ie) said...

I've mentioned this b/f, but your hubby rocks!!!

K M F said...

nice

palmtreefanatic said...

You are so Blessed to have such a caring husband!

j said...

Oh Nadine, you are so blessed to have a man who loves you. Honey, I am sorry. Just plain sorry. Alzheimer's makes us grieve before we lose our loved ones for good. My dear Nanny had the same disease - she was this amazing, fun loving woman. So giving. It was a long sad process, losing her. But if we had lost her all at once, as she had been before the disease, it would have been excruciating. God allowed us to grieve over a long period of time, to let go a little at a time. He is so full of Grace! I will feel your sadness with you and praise the Lord with you; if she wasn't so special, you wouldn't feel this much pain. You are blessed to have her. Love in Christ, Jennifer

Shionge said...

I think to be able to share the tears & joy with your hubby is the most wonderful and precious thing. Bless you both :D

eph2810 said...

Sounds like your beloved is wonderful. It is good that have someone next to us that makes us laugh. That is why I love mine too :)

Thank you so much for sharing from your heart ((((hugs))))

Dawn said...

That must have been so hard. I'm glad Tom was able to help you out, even if he didn't know it was going to be for you. Sounds like a keeper - like mine!

Keshi said...

no wonder u LOVE him so much!

Keshi.

Anonymous said...

awww so sweet that he knew just what to do. hugs about your mom it is so hard to be far from family.