Sunday’s sermon was about saints in the Bible that have gone before us, then we had an opportunity to light a candle for the saints and loved ones that have gone before us in our own lives. Pastor Abe reminded us that the saints were not perfect people and that the Bible is full of stories of imperfect people being used by God. He reminded us that God is faithful, he doesn’t give up, and he is in the business of redemption.
I lite a candle for both my parents and a very special aunt. Here is a poem I wrote about my mother shortly after she died in 2009. My father died in 1974 when I was 20 years old. I am saddened for the missed opportunity of getting to know him as an adult. I have not written a poem for my dad…maybe someday I will. He was a kind man.
Ruby Red
Red was her color
Ruby was her name
Never much recognition
Never much fame.
But she was a faithful mother,
A grandmother, a friend
Loved and cared by many
Generous to the end.
She surrounded herself with beauty
Both natural and man made
She had a green thumb for growing,
An eye for things that stayed.
From the house on McKinley
To the apartment at Meadowbrook
She kept her place beautiful
It was always fun to look.
Her fun sense of adventure
Took her on many fine trips
And hours of playing bridge
Kept her mind sharp and crisp.
Being with family and friends
Made her most content
She found joy in remembering
Those times were well spent.
So here’s to Ruby
Whose color was red
God blessed her life to 86
An active life she led.
March 2009
One lovely fall day we took the scenic drive down the Mississippi River along the Minnesota side and crossed over the river in Winona and headed north on the Wisconsin side. We stopped at the overlook in Alma and hiked in a park there. Next we stopped at Danzinger Vineyards and sipped ginger beer while sitting outside in the fall sunshine, overlooking the beautiful river valley, listening to live music playing in the background. We continued up the road north to Nelson’s Creamery where we ordered Rueben and Hot Ruby Sandwiches. An ice cream cone was the grand finale of all the good treats we had that day. The drive back during sunset was an added bonus to a wonderful time…trying to get snap shots of it all. 
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
I sent a card off in the mail this week. I went to the post office to get it stamped and the clerk warned me it would cost extra because it was so thick. I responded it’s OK, I expected that. Then I told him it is a birthday card that I send to my childhood friend and we’ve been sending it back and forth to each other since 1979. That’s 37 years! It began during the push for recycling and the card suggested we save it and send it back to the recipient on her birthday the following year. So we did. We keep adding cardstock for room to write our birthday greetings, thus its thickness.
