From the Heart

I had so many others posts tonight to share, book club choices, Amazon Monthly Best Sellers, 4th of July road trip….but something happened today that I really wanted to share…much more important and much more meaningful..I’ll keep it short but please try to read to the end…

Things have been so difficult..how many times do we want to say something but are not sure what to say or afraid to say the wrong thing….How do we show support for the Black Lives Matter movement? What can we do, what can we say, how can we help?

I have always been a strong believer of be the change you want to see by living by example. I try to instill it in my children and I try to live my life that way every day.

Today, June 29th is my grandmother Mary’s Birthday. She was my mother’s mother and I was sooooo close to her. In fact, one fall day when I was getting ready to go to work at Tiffany, I thought I would call her just to hear her voice and see how she was. She had been living in an assisted living community for many years, she had a stroke but we still knew how to communicate with each other. We “spoke” for a while that morning. Me mostly telling her about my week and what was going on at work. The next day my Grandmother died. I thank God everyday that I got the chance to speak to her one last time. Every year on her birthday, she sends me a sign that she is with me, watching over me and my family…Today, I received the most special sign…..

So, I’ve really been struggling with what I can do to make a difference. I know saying that we don’t see color is not enough. How can I live it…what do I do….how sad we have become, how did we get here and how are we going to get out and will a change come? I’ve asked myself this question so many times over and over …Am I being the change I want to see?, Am I living by example?…

I moved to my neighborhood when my kids were 3, 5, and 8 (14 years ago this December). I moved from a very family-oriented neighborhood to one that had a lot of empty nesters and not a lot of young mothers, like myself, at that time…I had the nicest mail carrier, Marta. Day in and Day out we got to know each other. She loved Reeces Peanut Butter cups. I would leave them out for her. We would talk almost every day. There was a horribly dangerous tree that was about to fall on her delivery path, but the owners would not do anything about it…Every day she was so afraid to cross over to deliver to my side of the street. Together we fought for over a year for that tree to finally be taken down. She would love it when I would decorate for various holidays and take photos to show her own kids. She was kind and sweet. And we were friends.

Unfortunately, Marta’s route was relocated about 5 years ago to the Rye Ridge Shopping Center. I would see her from time to time while she was delivering. I always begged her to relocate again and come back and when she had a couple of minutes we would run into Starbucks and grab a coffee and chat quickly online and then go on our way again.

Life got busier, I saw Marta less and less. I would think of her when I drove by the shopping center……

Today I had an appointment in Rye Ridge…as I was at the counter settling up, in walks Marta with the mail..of course, because of Covid19, we could not hug like we always did….

I was so happy to see her and find out that everyone in her family was safe and sound…She asked about my husband, kids, and my mom…I begged her to come back to our neighborhood, as always…and then she had to go….before she left she turned around and said “Nicole….I want to you know that you are right here” and she touched her heart…and tears came to my eyes and I said, “Marta, you are right here in my heart too”…