Sarah and Rose

Sarah felt like pulling the covers over her head, and never climbing out of bed, again, ever!  Her husband, the sweetheart of 46 years of her life had passed away.  She couldn't drive a car anymore.  Even with two hearing aids her hearing was problematic.  She hurt lots, due to fibromyalgia, arthritis, and 86 years of living.

To make things even bleaker, she had lived in the same neighborhood for almost 30 years, and now she had to move across town.  Her son and daughter-in law had built a beautiful new house.  She was grateful to live there with them.  At the same time, she couldn't drive back to her friends, and she knew nobody in this neighborhood.

Now the self-pity did it's best to hit her where it hurt the most.  "Why would anyone even care about knowing me?  I can't hear what people say a lot of the time.  If they speak rapidly, I'm lost.  I have nothing to offer to anyone any more."

Finally, after a bout of self pity she dragged herself out of bed.  It didn't help her that her daughter-in laws parents lived in the same house.  "At least they still have each other," she grumbled silently.

She tried not to give in to her feelings of discouragement but as soon as possible after a meal she would retreat again into her bedroom.  In there she would watch TV, but her mind was usually far away from the images that the television displayed.

One day she met a neighbor from across the street.  Sydney was her name.  She was charming and made Sarah feel as though she genuinely cared about her.  Sarah became even more interested when she learned that Sydney's Mother-in law had come all the way from the Phillipines to live with their family.

The first meeting was extremely awkward.  Rose spoke fluent English, but her Phillipine accent was so thick that Sarah could barely understand what she was saying.  Rose realized that Sarah was having a hard time understanding her.  Somehow they looked at each other, and then both began to chuckle.  The differences of culture, language, and age fell away.  They were two old ladies living with their sons and their families.

It wasn't long before they visited back and forth often.  Sarah liked to sit in the front yard and watch the sunset.  Soon Rose would join Sarah.  They would sit silently, watching the majesty of the golden light disappearing into the Great Salt Lake.

Rose was a Christian.  Sarah was a Christian.  They were from different denominations of Christianity.  Rose's church was not local so she began to attend her children's church.  Sarah also attended there.  Soon they sat together, the two oldest women in the church group.  Sarah would try to evangelize Rose.  Rose would smile and nod when Sarah preached.  Rose would simply say, "Maybe sometime."

Their differences didn't seem to matter.  It was the things that they had in common that made their friendship flourish.  Both loved to garden.  They exchanged things that they had grown.  They both loved to cook, and soon they exchanged dishes from their kitchens.  They shared their life stories.  Both had experienced the hardest struggles of life.  Rose was a widow like Sarah.  Their friendship grew stronger. 

Sarah awakened one morning and realized that she didn't feel discouraged any more.  Rose was a good friend.  Sarah was grateful to realize that friendship can happen at any age.  With joy Sarah got up and prepared for a new day.