BY JOELLEN COLLINS
Being near the California coast is a great pleasure for me, and I expected that bonus when I left my charming B and B in San Francisco to visit a friend of mine from many years ago. Connecting with my family and many acquaintances is always special, but this time I was reunited with a woman who was once my tiny girls’ babysitter. She now lives in Soquel, one of the places I wish I had been smart enough to recognize as an ideal place to “retire.”
Amid inimitable ocean scents, gentle sunshine and early spring fruit trees blossoming, we spent many hours catching up on our lives and, as both of us enjoy telling and listening to stories, we shared many different emotions. Her husband is a friendly and dynamic man and was more welcoming to me than I might have expected. We three truly enjoyed our time together. How lucky am I!
I need to write down all the colorful incidents we related, but one stands out because it is especially lovely and a reminder of the good hearts of most of the people we encounter in our lives.
Another family in our neighborhood at the time I mothered little girls had two lovely early teens, also very handy for babysitting and, over the years, I have kept up with them, joyously. Their mother was suffering from kidney disease and, as time passed, needed to have dialysis. Several years later, their mother passed away from that illness. Her daughters left our neighborhood but stayed in California. While relating my fondness for them, I learned that the younger sister had, a few years later, also contracted the same kidney disease and needed a transplant.
Apparently, as most people involved with this disease know, it is very hard to find a match for a transplant, and this lovely young woman was fortunate to have many volunteers. Unfortunately, none were matches. Around that time, she heard from a young man she had not known before, who offered his kidney. She refused that noble effort and mentioned that, as did all the other possible donors, he would have to be tested as a match and didn’t think it would be worth it. Time passed and, ultimately, he called her again, asking how her search was progressing.
After further bad news, he decided to have the tests and—yes—he was a perfect match.
I would love this story even if it ended there, but it didn’t. After the successful surgery, they became friends, fell in love, and married. As Jane Austen said, “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” It’s so much fun to learn of the blessings that have accrued to these deserving friends AND to realize that keeping in touch with so many amazing people allows one to learn of often beautiful events. The world contains, of course, sadness, violence, and hatred, but it is sweet to occasionally smell the roses of friendship and remember the lovely moments of life.