MINDY’S ANGELS

My niece was only five years five years younger than me.  We grew up more as sisters than as aunt and niece.  We were constantly up to our elbows in glitter and glue and cut up paper, totally immersed in our latest creations.  We would spend hours at the table, snipping and gluing and laughing and talking.  She always said she wanted to be like me when she grew up.      

We lost touch after I left for college.  She married early and had kids right away.  I finally found the right guy and had kids later in life.    

She found Christ many years before I did.  She maintained a Christian home and home-schooled her girls.  We got back in touch after I had my twins.  Most of our conversations were via email.  I often told her that I wanted to be like her when I grew up.  She was my Christian and child-rearing mentor.    

One day, I was in the middle of making some beaded angel ornaments for the Christmas tree.  The phone rang, startling me and making me spill a million sparkling beads all over the floor.  I answered the phone and it was Mindy.  This was really unusual, since even though we chatted back and forth online at least once a day, even having a daily Bible study, we seldom spoke to each other “in person.”    

“Aunt Teri,” she said, “I’m dying of liver cancer.  I need you to pray with me.”     

I went out to Indiana to see her, but I found I didn’t know how to talk to her.  Certainly, I didn’t know what to say to her daughters, aged twelve and six, who were distancing themselves from their grief by distancing themselves from their mother.  Or her husband, a cabinetmaker who was coping by building her casket out in the shed.  Or my sister, who was beside herself with anguish and couldn’t visit or even hear Mindy’s voice without bursting into tears.     

I asked God for help.  I didn’t ask Him to cure her.  I didn’t even ask Him why she had to get sick, just when I was really getting to know and treasure her…although it DID cross my mind…..I asked Him for a way to be with her without causing her more pain.         

I remembered how much we had loved crafting when we were little girls.  It occurred to me that she might enjoy one of my little beaded angels.  I couldn’t remember her favorite color, so I brought my whole beading kit along for the trip, so she could choose.          

Oh, God is SO good.  His solution was perfect.       

We made many angels that day.  Her daughters sat with us as we reminisced about when we were little girls.  The hours flew and I had to leave, but I left the bead kit with her and the girls, so they could spend some time.  I’ll never forget her beautiful gray eyes as I left and she mouthed “Thank you,” over the top of her daughters’ heads.  Later, I found out that she invited my sister to come and help her with the angels.  They scoured the craft stores together to find just the right beads and pearls and pins.  She, together with her mom and daughters made many, many angels for family and friends, and shared many tear-free hours laughing and chatting.     

 Mindy died at home with her husband and two daughters.  She was thirty-three.  At her funeral, her husband thanked me for the gift of the angels, and how it helped ease her suffering and created good memories for his girls.

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