Time Flies

 Highlights of my afternoon yesterday working with the sisters upstairs:

I spent about an hour and a half walking around outside with a sister who I've shared many mealtime discussions with, but I haven't often had the opportunity to just spend time with her one-on-one. I bumped into her in the hallway and saw she was heading outside for a bit and asked if I could join her. We spent the whole time chatting and picking some flowers. I happened to mention that lilies and daisies are my favorites so it was her mission to find me some good ones to put in my room. She told me a couple of times during our walk how nice it was to share the time with me and that it would be a happy memory for her of my time here.Then she took me upstairs to her room to show me a couple of pictures. I was so thankful for the special time spent with her.

I've written before about one sister in particular from the infirmary who I love to spend time with as you never quite know what to expect from her next. I spent the rest of my afternoon with her, most of that time we were sitting on a bench in the front of the house, watching the cars go by and chatting. She usually has the same list of questions she throws at me every 10 minutes or so "What's your name? Are you a sister? Do you live here? Do you have a family? Where are you from?" and she can go on and on. I was asking her a lot of questions yesterday too, and one of our conversations went a little something like this:

"Sister, what did you do today?"
"Nothin'."
"Really? Not one thing? Did you eat breakfast?"
"Well sure."
"Did you go to morning prayer?"
"Of course."
"Did you have lunch today?"
"I'd say so."
"Did you visit the Blessed Mother in the woods?"
"Mmhmm."
"Sounds like you did a lot to me."
"Nah."

Or this, as she was looking at my shoes and grabbing at my foot:
"Did you buy those shoes?"
"Yes Sister, I did."
"Must have cost a fortune with all that color on them."
"Not really. Did you buy your shoes?"
"Of course I did!! What do you think I did?? Make them myself??"

You can't beat her logic. You just can't. 

As I'm heading into my last month in this program, I know it's the little things like this that I'm going to be grasping onto most. It's the little moments spent talking with a sister, going for a walk, sharing a meal, joking and laughing, playing a game or two, or just hanging around that I'm going to need the most in the next few weeks. Those are the things I'll miss most too once I'm gone. Sure, I'll only be 10 minutes up the road, and I'll be here every Sunday and I'm sure there will be visits in between now and then. But it just won't be the same when I'm not living here. While I'm trying my best to keep myself focused on today, not tomorrow, next week or next month, the part of my life that is waiting for me on the other side of this is practically staring me in the face and trying to get my attention already.

All the more reason to enjoy these little moments a little extra right now, while they're still here. And to pray, like I have every single day since I walked into these doors, that I can stay attentive to the present and to what is right in front of me. This period of my life won't last forever, it's rapidly drawing to a close, but I've still got today and another month to go. It's not over 'til I'm out the door and onto the next, but until then I'm happy and thankful to be right where I am.