Thanks Giving Thursday -- Maurine

Maurine was one of my Mimi's best friends. In my mind, as a child, they could have both been my grandmothers, loving, cuddling and doting.

Maurine could bring out the best in anyone. She believed the best of everyone.

If there is such a thing as karma, she must have loads of good karma. She could leave a diamond ring by a bathroom sink at a restaurant, go back later, and it would be waiting because someone found it and thought to themselves, "I should take this lovely diamond ring and turn it in. Someone surely will want it back." What was even better was that Maurine believed it would be there.

Tonight as I lay on the MRI table, mind adrift, a comforting scent came to me and brought her to mind. It smelled like her house. I walked through it in my mind. Through the front door. Then to the left and hiding under the piano with her red-headed grandson Rob. Into the living room and looking at the couch along the wall. Back to the back of the house and to the right into the kitchen. Past the kitchen sink to the shelves just at child height. I see a little plaque and it reads, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

There in her kitchen I feel at peace knowing she will be home soon. Breast cancer will take her there. She has had the serenity to accept it, the courage to face it, and the wisdom to accomplish it all with grace.