Kindred Spirits

I love this lady. She is my delightful friend, Sharon. Her daughter Angie went to Heaven one month after Joey, and Sharon and I were connected in our grief by our dear mutual friend in Maui, Pastor Kit. He thought we might understand each other, perhaps as no one else could, and he proved to be right. Though we live miles apart in separate states, we have been corresponding every few days for over three years, and finding great comfort in simply sharing our days with each other. She flew out to see me last weekend, and we had a very sweet time together.

Angie

Sharon loves to cook, and one of her ways of finding comfort these past few years has been to cook her way through her days. She makes all kinds of delectable things and shares them with everyone who crosses her path, including us. She has sent us numerous care packages full of candy and treats for the holidays. I asked her if she would teach me how to make my favorite toffee and chocolate covered cherries while she was here, and she happily obliged.  She packed pounds of cherries and almonds in her suitcase, along with her jelly roll pan, and lugged them cross-country for me.

Here she is hand-dipping the cherries in chocolate. You can't imagine how good these are. If you are nice to me, I may make you some... yum!

All of these cherries are wrapped in white candy dough and then dipped. The juice of the cherries mixes with this white candy coating and emulsifies...i.e. melts together. When you bite into them, the most delicious juice fills your mouth and runs down your chin! You've never tasted anything like it.

An amazing creation!

Just one more look...you can see I am eating them almost as fast as I am making them!

Not only cherries! I also learned how to make homemade almond roca. It is magnificent. Or as my son in law says, it is "evil!". It is so good it devours your will power.

Sharon's other form of grief therapy is quilt-making. She brought me this beautiful fall-colored lap quilt with a fuzzy orange lining.  It is the 5th quilt she has made for us, and very much cherished along with the others. Sharon is a giver of the most generous type.

Sharon also brought five jars of homemade jam. She is probably the last woman in America who makes homemade jam, and I am lucky to know her. This stuff is good enough to drink! How do you spell love?

Pineapple habanero J-E-L-L-Y!

If you are a griever, I hope you have the comfort of a friend who completely understands. One who listens without judging, who weeps with you and for you, who might even fly miles to see you. Sharon and I are kindred spirits, brought together by our shared sorrow over our children. I like to think they have met in Heaven.  I need the sense of camaraderie provided by another mother who weeps. This difficult journey would be impossible without this beautiful friend who has walked the road with me.

2 Cor. 1:3-5

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.