The first time I remember something spiritual existed in our lives was a true
experience my grandmother told me.
My grandmother had taken care of Mrs. Carmichael for 40 years.
Their friendship began casually as my grandmother walked to the trolley car
in the morning on her way to work.
Mrs. Carmichael was tending her flowers in the garden and they would
exchange greetings.
The flowers bloomed and so did their friendship . From these early
contacts, to Mrs. C's husbands death, to her journey into blindness and
then to a nursing home my grandmother was beside her the entire time.

Mrs. C and her husband never had any children so facing old age
alone, blind, was frightening. My grandmother promised to be her
sight and helper.
One day when Mrs. C was in her 90'S she said to my grandmother, "I wish
I could be there for you when you were old as you have been here for me."

Several months later early in the morning my grandmother woke up to
what sounded like scratching on her apartment window. My grandmother
noticed the time, got up, went to check the window. No branches were
close to the window, nothing. So my grandmother went back to bed
thinking that was the oddest thing.          
At 9 am the phone rang and the nursing home staff told my grandmother
that Mrs. C had died in the middle of the night and they did not want to
call and wake my grandmother. The time she died? Yes, the exact time the
scratching on the window, like a goodbye from a dear friend.

My grandmother resumed her life without Mrs. C and in her 70's she
received a call from the new managers of the apartment building she had
lived in for 28 years. They told her she had to move apartments as they
wanted her unit. My grandmother was startled. She did not have the energy
to move and had no idea where to go.
So she phoned the new owners of the building and began, " Hello, this is
Anne Woods in apt 2B. I will move but I need another month to locate
a new apartment building."
The female voice of the new owner said,"Is this Annie?" Is this
Mrs. Carmichael's Annie?"
My grandmother faltered, and then responded, "Yes."
The voice said, " Annie, this is Nurse Holden from the nursing
facility where Mrs. Carmichael lived for 20 years. My husband and
I just bought your apartment building and we hired a new manager. I am so
sorry our new manager has asked you to move. Don't you worry, you stay
there as long as you like. They can find another apartment to move into."
So in a very special way Mrs. Carmichael's wish for my grandmother
came true...she did indeed help her out in her old age too.

We never know when an act of kindness will turn and become a
blessing to us.