EAST ST. LOUIS... SORROWFUL DAYS

 

I honestly can't remember exactly when this happened during my time living there at the LBDNH.  I entered the House to live in it about May or June, '67 and left mid-March, '68.  Think this "Sorrowful" event occurred during the Fall of '67. But it's never left my heart.

When I was allowed to walk through the House this past Saturday, one of the former main entry rooms ain't the same any more.  One reason: it was originally connected to the Daycare service.  And they don't have that there any longer.  The Daycare main room has other stuff and its side office is used for other things.

I used to help occasionally with the Daycare.  They needed me, because something occurred that they hadn't planned on or someone hadn't come to do their job.  It wasn't my favorite thing to do, for certain sure.  I had been a babysitter of my 2 younger sisters when I was 7 years old and 3 more girls arrived over time, the last when I was 13.  Since I was abused significantly, by my parents, I sometimes was an abuser to my sisters. For instance, as they grew older and picked on me too often, and got me in more trouble with my folks, I beat them -- on the side, so my folks wouldn't see it and the girls didn't tell mom and dad.  SO helping at the Daycare could cause me to be frustrated when I saw things that just drove me nuts.  I saw too much of the "bad" stuff, and they, the helpers, were very nice. Very kind. My thoughts, however, was they did not deal with reality.

BUT the lady who was the main organizer was a lovely person.  I really, really liked her.

Then the story hit us on a Saturday, and broke our hearts for her.

Her daughter, son-in-law and 2 young granddaughters were at her house for dinner on Friday night.  When her husband prayed for dinner, afterwards the little girls said that they saw an angel and they were jumping up and down and filled with joy.

Later, the family left and headed for their home.  It was a bit outside of town, away from normal streets and paved streets.  While on a gravel road, a teenaged boy, speeding the opposite direction, hit them head on.  All 5 of them, including the boy, were killed, immediately.  All I remember about the girls is that they were thrown from where they sat on the back seat to being crushed on the floor below and under the front seats.

All of us were heartbroken.  All of us had so much love for this lady... whose name I obviously can't remember.  She returned to the House about a week later, and we showed our sorrow for her, and she did her job, but many, many tears flowed from her.

Miss Provence, when there was a place to go to show appreciation and concern for the lady and her husband, which event was at their church, and prior to the service, took me in her car.  We were alone.  She let me know what to do, what I'd be seeing.  Knowing me, she was pretty sure I could freak out, and she prepped me.

When we walked into the church, I was truly horrified.  It was the first time I had seen more than one casket.  [It's been that way my whole life.]  To see the caskets of the parents and the small ones of the little girls truly entered my heart.

On the way back to the House, Miss Provence very kindly told some of what she felt and how I could adjust to this sorrowful situation, how I could encourage others.

I tried.  I never stopped loving the Daycare lady.  I have no idea what ever happened, since I left a few months later, and my usual job wasn't connected directly to her.  Often when I was at SIU for class, I didn't arrive back to the House before the Daycare was closed for the day.

In all these years, I have never forgotten what happened.  And one of the main things the lady focused on was that since her young grandgirls had seen an angel before they finished dinner and headed for home, it was a spiritually-oriented prayer gift time.  The girls were happy.  Maybe the angel, who obviously knew what was on their "plate", would be carrying their spirit and soul immediately to heaven.  Bodies left behind, which happens to all of us.

So, yes, it was sorrowful. For days and days.

But it also was filled with knowledge of the Lord.  Things happen in our lives, on earth, both good or evil, but reaching heaven is the most important event we can ever walk through, fly through, rejoice through.

That's all I can ever hope for.  In the last 45 years and 8 months since I left, I've grown to understand more and more about heaven and earth.  Relying on the Lord.