For the Love, Mrs. G. Put That Rake Down

Sometimes, helping people isn't easy.

Sometimes, doing good for others hurts.  A lot.

Sometimes, you just don't feel like doing it.

And then you see this:

That alone will motivate even the coldest heart to jump in to do this:

 Two years ago we did not know this woman's name.  We did not know that she lost her husband in 2000.  We did not know that she had two children and six grandchildren.  We did not know that she was a lot like my grandma.

We didn't know that she had the biggest yard with the biggest, fullest trees in Indiana. 

If we knew that last bit, we may not have signed up when our church put out a call for families and groups to help elderly parishioners with their yard work.

Our family was paired with this lovely lady, and I almost cried when I saw her yard. 

This is our third year helping Mrs. G.  And by helping, I mean spending hour upon hour upon hour raking and bagging leaves.  Each year, when the temperatures start to dip, I think of Mrs. G and her leaves.  Each year I think, "Oh my word, I don't want to do that again."  But each year we do.

Did you see that picture?  Did I mention that she's 90?!?!

Honestly, how can you say no to a woman who drags her walker around a tree for half an hour in order to collect a tiny pile of leaves?

A woman who always has ice cream sandwiches or homemade cookies, depending on the weather, waiting for us.  A woman who gushes with gratitude the whole time we are there.  A woman who has volunteered untold hours in her lifetime doing good deeds for others.

We just can't say no.  We're all in.  Till death do us part.

Today, we completed round one of Coop Family vs. Hellish Leaf Pile.

The kids work so hard while we are there.  Even the little guys pitch in and do their part.

 
Of course, all work and no play is frowned upon.  When you have this many leaves staring you in the face, there must be some play time.

For two and a half hours, we raked and bagged leaves.

100 bags actually, give or take a few.

I don't know if you noticed, but in each of these photos, you can see lots of trees with green leaves all over them.

Don't adjust your screen.  The kid in blue isn't mine.  Luckily, Mrs. G lives on a semi-busy street.  A friend from bible study saw us and stopped to help for a while.  Several other friends stopped to say hi and ask what we were doing, (Raking.  Duh.) but those lazy bums just left us there to fend for ourselves.  I guess Mrs. G wasn't out at the time to guilt them into helping.

Those green leaves were taunting us all afternoon.  We could actually hear them whispering, "Go ahead.  Rake those leaves.  You can't win.  When you least expect it, we'll send in another attack.  And you'll be back.  Again and again. Bwahaha."

We'll be waiting.  And watching.  Our rakes are at the ready.

Although, I will need to run out and get a few hundred more leaf bags.

But then we'll be ready.

Have a lovely day!