Family – The Traveling Kites

I am looking out the large window into the back yard at my mother’s home. She sits nearby, working on her latest puzzle that is spread out atop the dining room table. As I gaze out the window, I see a familiar pair of avian friends, strutting and picking around the yard. We affectionately know them as Harold and Everett; a couple of black birds that visit the yard daily.

You might be thinking, Ah, how cute. They named the birds. While you are correct on that, there is a deeper story behind the naming. My father’s name was Harold. He grew up on a small farm a half-hour away. By the time he graduated high school, he had decided that he did not want to spend the rest of his life farming. So, he took a job at a steel mill a half-hour’s drive from the house he built down the road from the farm.

After some years of driving the one-hour round trip to the mill, frequently working ten hours a day, six days a week, he became weary of the daily trek and decided to build a house within a few miles of his workplace. I sit today in the house he built.

My father had a good life and was a great dad to my sister and me. Sadly, he passed on Fathers Day in 2009, following a month-long hospital stay. My mother continued to live in the house he built and was very happy to be able to stay there well into her nineties, with the assistance of my wife and I.

One day at mom’s house, we observed two black birds that landed in the back yard. We would soon learn that they visit every day. Interestingly, there are black birds all around the neighborhood, but these two are the only two that seem to have made mom’s yard their daily hangout. We know that it is the same two that visit every day because one is slightly larger than the other and they have become recognizable by the three of us.

Mom said, “That’s Harold, come home to visit.” My wife asked who the other one was, and we all decided it was Everett the neighbor who had also passed several years before.

After getting to know them by name, we have come to look for them each day. Over the past month, I have made it a habit to take a scoop of seeds and peanuts out to the bird feeders each morning, then walk a little further and whistle while throwing the rest of the scoop out into the grass. Harold and Everett would eventually find their way, landing quite a distance from the tossed treat, then walking cautiously, side to side, while slowly approaching the feed. Eventually, they would gather up enough courage to peck at the food, oftentimes flying back to the safety of the tree line to eat the mouthful they collected.

Over the past few days, it seems that they have become used to my routine and maybe even expect it. Yesterday, I was in the kitchen, and I heard some cawing. I told my wife that they were hungry and promptly went out to whistle and toss. They no longer delay in flying in. They now land in the yard before I get back inside the house. They still make their first approach to the food with caution, but after that first mouthful, they just walk right up to it. I look forward to the day when they trust me enough to no longer use caution on that first approach.

Harold and Everett have become a cherished addition to our days at the house. I wonder if my dad is in heaven, looking down at us with a smile on his face and a bit of laughter in his breath.

“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom o barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” – Luke 12:24

-Randy

Feathers photo by Vignesh Kumar R B on Unsplash

In-flight photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash

Recently, I shared a post on Instagram in which I wrote: “Every once in a while, life throws us a speed bump. The key to successful navigation is to realize that there is still a road ahead on the other side. Press on! (Philippians 3:12-14).” Here is the beginning of the story behind that post.

Sharon and I had a week of vacation set in our calendars for quite some time. That week finally arrived at the end of work on April 27, 2018.

As we pondered what to do with the time, we decided to just head out – no reservations – in whatever direction felt right. We considered heading west toward Michigan, then as the weather continued to be cool up north, we decided to head south instead; perhaps toward the beaches of South Carolina.

Although we are campers, we decided to go the hotel route this time. However, camping is in our blood, so we were going to throw the tent and sleeping bags in the car, just in case the weather and location aligned for a few nights of sleeping on the ground.

As we were near the middle of our last work week before vacation, we received news that Sharon’s mother was heading to the local hospital. Over the next couple of days, it seemed that she had a touch of pneumonia and would be fine. I kept in conversation with Sharon about whether she thought we should stay home. She felt like things were going well enough that we could go. There are other family members that live close enough to stay connected to our loved one.

We were planning on heading out on Saturday morning. But then everything changed. The phone rang around midnight Friday night with the news that they were going to transport my mother-in-law to Pittsburgh by ambulance. She had a collapsed upper left lung. We knew then that we wouldn’t be heading south in the morning.

When we got up and around on Saturday, I called Bear Run Campground near Portersville, PA to see if they had a full-hook camp site available. It was still early enough in the season that finding what we wanted was no problem.

The reason for the campsite was that we are a 90-minute drive from the hospital at home, but only 35 minutes from the hospital at Bear Run Campground. Not knowing what was ahead, I booked the campsite for three nights; Saturday, Sunday and Monday with a Tuesday departure.

The next few days were spent at the hospital with nights at the campground. As Tuesday approached, it became evident that our stay needed to be extended, so I paid for two more nights.

On my in-laws 63rd wedding anniversary, my father-in-law came to visit. As the day progressed, he ended up admitted to the same hospital and the next day, was put in the same room as my mother-in-law. The hospital staff told us that they were the talk of the hospital for having spent their anniversary together there.

There were a lot of family members visiting each day, so I took one day to stay back to camp while Sharon took her sister along to the hospital. On that day, I went for a hike at McConnel’s Mill State Park, which is not far from the campground. I stopped at the Pilot station close-by to fill the truck with gas and have lunch at the Subway inside. Back at camp, I took some time just to sit in my chair, under the canopy with my feet up. It was finally barefoot weather in western Pennsylvania!

The owners and staff at Bear Run Campground were very gracious and understanding to us during the week. When our new departure date came, we found the need to continue our stay. I was going to reserve for the three more nights that would take us through to a Sunday departure, but found that our site was booked for the weekend. Thankfully, the campground had other sites available and I reserved the three nights at a different site. But then the blessing happened. When we arrived back from the hospital our last night before having to pack up and move to another site, the campground staff told us they had called the folks who had our site reserved. They explained the situation to them and asked if they would be willing to take a different site so we could stay put. They agreed and we were thankful.

IMG_20180502_211841_813 — Binx, the Camping Cat, came along

No one wants to experience a week of vacation spending every day in the hospital. But, we are family and that’s what family does. Sharon apologized to me at one point during the week, saying she was sorry that our vacation turned out like this. But I told her that this was important. We had talked many times through the last few years about what it might take to give our parents the best experience possible as they entered this phase of their life. I told her that as time moves forward, we will never look back and regret that we took this week to be with them.

God was working through the whole week. It was easy to see. First-off, consider that we didn’t have any reservations made for this vacation. We had planned to just head south and go as far, and in whatever direction felt right at the time. So, we didn’t have any backtracking to do to cancel arrangements, possibly losing deposits.

Consider that our week of vacation was this particular week. We could have chosen a week before or after, but no; we chose this week. God knew where the need was and directed our timing.

Consider the kindness of the campground to work with us as the week went on. They made our stay a stress-free part of the week; especially when they arranged for us to not have to move to a different campsite. God knew where to put us for this kindness to happen. We certainly felt genuine concern from the camp staff as they asked us daily how things were going.

Consider the fact that Sharon’s sister from Virginia needed a place to stay when she came to visit that week and we just happened to have room for a guest in our camper. God was at work for her as well.

There is far more to the story than I could ever tell here. But there were two things that stood out to me that week: 1). Family is so important and; 2). When going through tough times, God is very near. We just need to call on His name and trust His plan.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” – John 15:12

Tag: Family

Harold and Everett

A Higher Plan