Small Things

It's easy to overlook the sublime when it doesn't appear in a dramatic way.

But any gift, any act of service, especially when given or performed in love, becomes greater than its individual parts.

Here are two examples.

When the kids were young, my approach to household chores was to divide and rotate, with me being part of the division and rotation. My rationale was that the kids would not feel I was pushing menial tasks onto them or that I was "teaching" them to be responsible, etc.

Rather, my philosophy was more of "We all live here together. Let's work together to make this a clean and welcoming home."

Now that I live in a house with two adults (my youngest two adult kids), that's the way we've continued.

Until Rebekah lost her job during the pandemic.

One day, she told me not to worry about the chores. She was out of work, and she wanted to feel "useful." Almost every day since that time, she has kept the house clean, from bathrooms to laundry, to kitchen floors.

It doesn't sound like a big deal. We don't have small children or an abundance of pets (just two senior cats), so the tasks are fairly straightforward and don't take hours (although it's amazing how quickly dishes and towels pile up).

And yet, Rebekah is still handling the basest of tasks that come with living in a house. She doesn't get a paycheck and any of the lauds that come with performing well in the workplace. No one gives her high fives for cleaning underneath the stove burners. 

But her service has allowed Daniel and me to focus more on work, which is especially important for Daniel, as he's in a new position with great responsibilities.

Rebekah also takes her role very seriously. With cleaning products in short supply, she searches online for alternatives. Three days ago she found some great cleaners at a most unlikely place in Joliet (not saying where). And, yes, she read the labels to ensure they will do what she they claim to do.

She's baked a lot of homemade bread. She's cooked most of the meals. She's handled all the medications for one senior cat. She's eliminated a slew of one-time, miscellaneous tasks the rest of us keep putting off for lack of time.

And she gave me the most lovely gift for my birthday, even though she is out of work and her personal finances are tight.

The first gift was a simple handmade card with a simple but heartfelt greeting inside.

The second was a handmade bookmark.

The bookmark's design is simple: some beads she had leftover from another craft. And two small charms.

I recognized one of the charms. She had worn often since childhood. The other I didn't recognize but it came from the same place - and same person.

You see, her stepfather, who now has dementia and is living in a nursing home (where there's been no covid, praise God), used to work in the maintenance department at the school across the street from our house.

Before that position, Ron worked for a blacktop company. But when his own mother became sick, he quit the job and moved back to his childhood home to take care of her. And then he applied for a job at the school across the street, where he himself had gone to school.

It was in this home I finished raising my kids. It was at this school where Ron often paused in his duties ("Smoke break!") to talk to one of my children if they had a problem or just wanted to share something with him.

And it was at this school where Ron brought home items that no one ever claimed from the school's "lost and found" box.

Those items included jewelry that little girls might wear. If he saw something Rebekah might like, he brought it home for her.

It wasn't just Rebekah he considered. He brought home discarded library books, notebooks with blank drawing paper, winter hats, and any unclaimed item he felt the kids might like and use.

But Rebekah treasured those simple jewelry pieces. And she fashioned two of them into something I could use and ponder and enjoy.

Think a moment. A simple child's charm.

Perhaps something a parent bought for a gift or a spur of the moment purchase. The child who originally wore it, and forgot about it, is now all grown up, perhaps with children of her own.

And yet, it gave Ron great pleasure to select it and bring it home to Rebekah.

It gave Rebekah great pleasure to accept it, wear it with just the right outfit, and to feel the love of the giver.

It gave Rebekah great pleasure to take those same treasured item and turn it into another item that I will treasure. And then she did the same with a second charm.

Amazing so much value can be had in such a simple, forsaken, little girl's charm.