|
The real estate agent had
no rentals but assured us one was coming up. It had not been cleaned and
because we needed to get into the place accepted the offer to be paid for
cleaning.
It was the strangest
experience I’ve ever had, as far as cleaning, before or since. Everywhere
was litter. Boxes of Kentucky Fried Chicken, containers from McDonalds and
other fast foods were scattered randomly. Newspapers, old clothes, some
books, and other sorts of household trash was literally piled high.
Plastic sacks we filed with all they would hold. I often wished the sacks
had been counted because it was an unbelievable number to be stacked in
the alley. Upon reaching the floor itself the shock was that these were
relatively clean. No filth had to scraped up as had been the case in the
apartment on Elliot Street in Oklahoma City. The only cleaning to be done
was in the bathroom from some industrious woman who had piled layers of
floor wax on the tile but this looked old and parchment like maybe put
there by some former resident than the last. . The area was small and it
was no problem to strip that wax off. If I had known the Dallas school
system was a little overwhelmed by the new special education demand this
cleaning would never have been done. Not to complain, because the short
time we lived there burns bright in my mind because we were so happy.
There were children in the neighborhood and this time Mark was the person
for whom we looked for companionship. A beautiful old Sycamore tree stood
in the front yard, a small yard, neighbors who were physically close
because the houses had a proximity to each other, all these things are
lovely memories.
Next door a little girl,
Amy, came every evening for art lessons and a safe place until her mother
returned for work. Along with her friend who came with her they were sweet
and gentle friends for Rhonda. Amy’s art lessons allowed her to be moved
up to the grade where she belonged chronologically, her mother told me
just before we left.
“I’ll always remember how
Amy learned to paint the sunlight from you.” Her mother was grateful.
The comment humbled me and
once again through art my life was full and I appreciated being an
instrument in the little girls world for a feeling of her own self worth.
Once in a while I will see these with whom I worked and a friendly hug and
smile from them is my reward.
Garland, Texas was our next
stop and again the experiences there were special.
“How can I repay this girl
who has helped Rhonda to the bathroom for all the year.”
I made inquiries of the
bright little woman who was their teacher.
The woman was standing at
Rhonda’s desk pulling the tape from off her paper. Rhonda couldn’t hold
the paper with one hand so this ingenious woman simply taped the paper to
the desk so it wouldn’t slip. Because it was hard for Rhonda’s hand to
hold a pencil she dropped it quite often. The teacher tied it to her wrist
with a string and it could be easily pulled back up onto the desk where
she could pick it up.
“Her folks and she are
proud people but I don’t think they would resent her having a coat. I know
she needs one.”
So it was, we found an
attractive coat for the girl who was just beginning to enjoy new clothes.
The look on her face when she tried the new coat to wear will forever be
with me. It was a small price to pay for her having taken on a woman’s
dedication for helping someone weaker than she was to get to the bathroom.
Surely God in his infinite mercy has stayed with her through the hard
times of her life. It is my prayer that this has been so. |
