a moment of grace

For a while now, I've noticed a family who comes regularly to Sunday Mass at the Sisters', where I play a couple times a month (and daily Mass twice a week). In the family, there are 4 children, a father and a mother. Sometimes, grandparents attend Mass with them. The first thing I noticed about them was the mother, who looks to be in her late 30's and is very beautiful. She was bald when I first noticed them. (This was last winter and her hair began to grow back in the summer.) Then I noticed all the children--all beautiful, all MOSTLY well-behaved. (The youngest is an adorable little tow-headed girl who is probably around 2 and can't seem to sit still for the life of her. She always makes me smile. Her dances are works of art!) From what I've observed, they are a very close family, all sitting close to one another, all smiling at one another. I can tell they all care for one another very much. The most interesting thing I have noticed all along is the sense of peace and joy that always plays across the mother's face. The father has it, too, but it's not as readily obvious as it is with her. With him, it's more of a stalwart courage kind of thing. Watching them over the past several months, I knew intuitively this was a family in crisis: a mom who has cancer. She didn't look like someone who'd just shave her head capriciously to make a statement so it was the only conclusion possible, considering her bald head.

Today, I had the opportunity to talk with the dad after Mass. I asked him if his wife was suffering from cancer. He said, yes, she had had a double mastectomy last February and it had returned in her brain in September. She is undergoing radiation, has 4 treatments left and will be done this coming Thursday. I told him I had noticed her little bald head last winter. He said this is the second time she's lost her hair. (She was wearing a scarf today so I figured...) I said, well, bald is beautiful! And he said, yes, and she has a cute little head. (She does, too!) I said I'd noticed their family and what a witness to God's love they all were to me. He thanked me and told me I had a beautiful voice. (I had led the singing this morning while I played.) I thanked him and told him it was a privilege for me to be there. I told him I was praying for them. We wished one another happy new year and moved away from one another.

I walked away, thinking how blessed I am to experience such beautiful moments in my life and be given such opportunities to pray for strangers. (Well, we all know, in the Body of Christ, there are no strangers really...) I knew, by observing and talking with the dad, this family is entrusting their future to God. And, they continue to praise Him.

I don't even know their names but they have changed me in ways they, themselves, aren't probably even aware. Because of them, I have become less selfish (just a little bit less, anyway), I have an opportunity to grow in faith by seeing how they are handling a crisis in their lives, I have come to appreciate more fully the people in my life and all the blessings I have regarding my health. And, the idea that children are a great blessing to spouses has been greatly reinforced for me through them.

Isn't it interesting the lessons others teach us just by living their lives and not even knowing us?