SPECIAL HANDS (Repost May 6, 2005)

The timing is perfect for me to repost this entry from my old journal. I will be taking Mom to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Monday so the doctors can "mend" her broken heart. Chris had asked me to post it when I told her I had written about the same subject she had. We decided that great minds think alike. ::smile::

Friday, May 6, 2005
2:42:00 AM EDT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Fur Elise~Beethoven

Aren't these the loveliest hands? They are wonderful hands. They have been involved in much working, caring, and loving. Everyone should be blessed to have hands such as these. Look at them closely...see all they have done.

These hands cradled four little baby girls and consoled, encouraged, and loved them as they grew. They changed diapers and dressed squirming bodies. They bathed one right after the other and washed hair. They held onto tiny hands in stores, crossing streets, and in busy parking lots. They tried to give the occasional well-deserved swat, but they failed in producing any sting in the recipient. They combed hair and sewed clothing and cleaned messy rooms. They clapped at all performances those little girls were in and continue to applaud the grandchildren. They wiped away tears and held Kleenex to runny noses. They baked birthday cakes and cupcakes. They cooked three meals a day and numerous snacks.

These gentle hands decorated a beautiful home. They pushed a vacuum and broom, scrubbed floors, washed windows, painted walls, cleaned bathrooms,and did boatloads of laundry. They planted flowers outside and tended to indoor plants. They took dogs on walks, fed the cats, and filled the bird feeders. They held newspapers, magazines, and books. They still prepare the most fabulous meals and lay out a lovely table with each place set just so...and create centerpieces that will draw compliments from the diners.

They played a shrewd game of bridge. They were at their finest, though, playing the piano. These very fingers can glide up and down the piano keyboard in a blur playing boogie woogie, show tunes, jazz, and classical music. They can create music that resonates throughout the house and gives the listener a feeling of peace, joy, a desire to dance, or a sense of wonderment. They are the instruments for displaying the musical gift the owner of them possesses.

These hands have accomplished so much. They tenderly cared for a beloved husband during grueling years of frightening and sad times. They caressed the cheek and held the hands of that man. Their touch to his hands could restore his rapid, erratic heart rhythm to a normal pace. They helped feed him, turn the pages of a newspaper for him, lay out clothing for him to wear. Those fingers soothingly ran through his thick head of hair to tidy it or just to bring comfort to him. They gave him love.

Oh, yes. These are definitely some of the most beautiful hands I have ever seen. They are gifted hands. There is a little finger that curves at a bit of an odd angle~the result of a back operation many, many years ago. It is numb, but it can move. The other fingers are twisted or turned due to the arthritis which insinuated its way into them countless years ago. The knots at the wrists create much pain and sometimes restrict movement. Time has added some spots to the flesh. But, are these not still the same hands they once were? Do the imperfections take away from the beauty these hands have created? Not at all. The loveliness of the hands is in what they have done, how they have touched countless people in ways that are forever to be remembered.

These gnarled fingers will always...for all of time...be beautiful to me. They are the splendid hands of my mother.

"Flowers leave a part of their fragrance in the hands that bestow them." ~Proverb