Dawn!

A questioned posed to me has left me in a state of reflective thought. She asked me about people from my past that have changed me in some way. A positive change.

It is obvious that part of my answer to this question would involve of course my mother, my sister, my brother, my husabnd & kids. They are a given. Our time shared in this life, experiences of delight, growth, sadness, fear etc have bonded us forever. There are truths we know about eachother that no one else will ever be privvy too & that is what's special about family.

I have been touched by some very special people in my time. Some of whom's souls have left this world.

In my community nursing years I remember this gorgeous woman of about 75-80 yrs of age. I used to visit with her every week & she would share her stories with me. Her name was Dawn & she was a breath of fresh air.

She was facing what, to anyone else ,would have been the grimmest hours their life. She had multiple heart disease diagnosis's & there was no surgery that could fix her ailments. In her own words, she was living on borrowed time. This condition found her going every Tuesday for blood transfusions which unlimately were buying her a little extra time.

She was amazing! Instead of wollowing in what she could not change, she did things for others to help them in their hour of need. Such a beautiful soul was she! There were never any words of complaint, she was very humbling to be around.

She had a cosy little lounge, everything she needed was within her reach. Beside her she kept a shoe box & by the end of each fortnight she would have filled that shoe box with beautifully crotched baby beanies, jackets & booties. A mix of pastels, blue, yellow, green & pink. These little items of clothing were so tiny, they were not much bigger than barbie doll clothes. She would make these for the premmy babies at the hospital. This was her act of love & good will to the parents of these little cherubs & the babies themselves.

She was a very gracious lady & was always very thankful for everything that was done for her. I know that she enjoyed my company, she loved the conversation & idle chit chat. A chance for her to escape from her reality.

On top of her TV she kept a photo of her only son. He was in the police force, she was very proud of him & that was evident by where he held pride of place amongst all the other photos she had.

She had such a great character & a wonderful sense of humour. If her son failed to visit when she was expecting him, she would turn his photo downwards so that she couldn't see his face. He was in her bad books, albeit for a very brief time because by the next visit, he would be sitting back up there, in all his glory once again. She was a classic!

It was Christmas Eve & I went for my usual visit. I asked Dawn what she was doing for Christmas. She explained to me that she had been invited to her sons for Christmas but that she had declined. I think she knew that her time was near. She told me the same thing that she had told her son. She said she just wanted to stay home, eat potato chips, have a meat pie, drink pepsi & watch the repeats of the Golden Girls all day! That was her idea of a great day!

At the end of my time with her she called me to join her at the table. She had a can of pepsi for me & asked me to cut us both a piece of frozen cheesecake. This was our Christmas Eve Supper.

She wished me & my family a Merry Christmas as I walked out the door. I wished her the same back & told her I would see her when I came back from holidays. She nodded politley & said Ok love!

Well this was never to happen & I reckon she knew too! On Christmas Day her battle was over! Her visits to the hospital for those dreaded tranfusions over. The pain she suffered in silence was over! She had managed to finish just one more box of clothes for the babies. I just wonder if she got to eat pie, chips, drink cola & watch the Golden Girls as she had planned. I hope so because these were her vices & most of them (the chips, pies & cola) had to be given up because of her illness.

Yes I reckon she knew her time was up .... these memories I will treasure.