Day 248

Tonight, I am thinking about my sister, Molly. A little less than two months ago, her husband of 26 years passed away. Molly has a business as a miniature dachshund breeder, and the dogs require her attention a great deal of the time, which can make it difficult to simply be with what one is feeling. However, in the past seven weeks, I have witnessed my sister in all states of being. She has been happy, sad, tired, rested, hungry, unable to eat, confused and clear as a bell, profoundly vulnerable and incredibly strong, etc.

For this Peace Walker, being in the midst of this presence is something I shall not easily forget. There is a way in which the time I have lived on the land with Molly is actually quite remarkable. You see, this is the very essence of connection – intimacy, if you will. Molly has reached out to me, to the rest of the family and to her friends for help, and, she has been willing to receive it. Also, she has continued to run her business, receiving enormous support from her customers.

In the midst of the seriousness around running the business and taking care of the details of Richard’s death, I have only heard Molly mention one thing that she would really like to do. So, for the past five days, my focus has been on getting ready to do that one thing. And now, the prep work is complete and I am ready to begin helping paint her kitchen. The swatches above are the samples we tested…can you guess which one she (and our sister Marybeth) picked?

I could not have known that this was part of what I would help with during my time in Texas, and I couldn’t be happier to be doing it. You see, sometimes, no matter how much is going on, no matter how many projects there are that “have” to get done, you just throw caution to the wind and choose to do something totally different, simply because you’ve wanted to do it for a long time.

And for me, if painting the kitchen helps Molly (and Marybeth), then I am at Peace.