Growing up, there was a sweet older neighbor lady across the street. Her name was Rosie. Rosie had a tomato garden and every summer she would bring over tomatoes from her garden. One of the ones she grew, were small, little yellow pear tomatoes. I grew to love them. I would eat them warm, and ripe from the sun.
To this day, I love yellow pear tomatoes. Maybe because I actually do enjoy them. But maybe, also in part, because there is a sweet warm memory attached to them.
Rosie became a part of my story.
We all have a life story. But what we often don’t realize, is how often we wind up in someone else’s story.
There was also Reuben Larson at church. The man with the twinkle in his eyes, the robust heart “Santa Clause-like” laugh, who always belted out my name in such hearty joy. And he would always say it wrong. He knew me. He cared for me. And yet he could never get my name right. And I didn’t care. Not one bit. In fact, it endeared me to him all the more. I grew to love Reuben as a child. And I grieved when he died of cancer.
Reuben became a part of my life story.
These people crafted me. They invested in me. They loved me.
There are so many more people along my road in life, who have become a part of my life story. Shannon, who nurtured and took me under her wing when I lived far from home. Carl, who always believed in me, and ended up becoming my boss, and dear friend. JoAnn - with her small hamburger diner, who made me feel special with her extra love and attention.
Strangers at first, these people. But they cared. They loved. And they became embedded in my heart.
I wonder if I will wind up in anyone’s story? Have I done anything I think is normal or simple, that someone else will always remember and cherish. Do they tell stories about that neighbor lady, or the girl at the supermarket who helped them?
We each have our own life story. We have people who became embedded in our hearts. But we all play a character in someone else’s as well. Do we play a good character, or one we’d rather erase? Did we say something unkind or mean, and someone always remembered it? For we can be remembered - good AND bad.
I pray that I will always keep in mind how I treat others and that I can do something to make someone else’s life a little better and easier.
May that be a wish for all of us.
