Vignette: Paula in Minnesota

In my previous posting God’s Creation-Minnesota, I mentioned that through the trees on Greg and Sherry’s property you could barely make out two other houses – their neighbors.  Connie and Joe live in the closest house, while Deb and Crystal live in the other house along with Deb’s Mom, Mary, and Deb’s younger sister Paula.  Deb and Crystal live in the main part of the house while Mary and Paula share a delightful apartment on the lower level which, because the whole structure is built on a slope, is also on a ground level of its own.

We got to meet all the neighbors because on one of the evenings that we were there we participated in a “travelling dinner”.  I’ll share details of that event in another posting.  Here I want to talk about Paula who is somewhat mentally challenged and is quite a delightful character. She is actually forty-five years old, I believe, but looks like a teenager.

When we entered the kitchen at Deb and Crystal’s, Paula was seated at a table on the far side of the room of the room next to her Mom, Mary.  Paula is not very tall, maybe not even five foot.  She has rich auburn, curly hair that she wore pulled back from her face that day.  Her face is very round and when she smiles her eyes crinkle up, Chinese-style, and she looks like a mischievous pixie!

Richard had stopped at the kitchen island to pick at some appetizers, while I walked around it and went over to be introduced to Paula.  She did not look up at me immediately, but then Deb said, “Look at this Paula”, and pointed to my hair.  At that, Paula looked up at me and her face lit up in pure delight.  She clapped her hands together like a little child and exclaimed, “It’s purple, it’s purple, my favorite color!”  Looking into that innocent, beaming face, I felt as though someone had given me an exquisite gift.  My heart lurched and I fell in love with Paula right then and there. 

She continued to smile up at me and I pointed over to Richard and said, “And that’s my husband, Richard.”  Without skipping a beat, Paula looked in Richard’s direction and once again clapped her hands together.  Her smile widened and, in such genuine innocence, she exclaimed, “Oh, he’s so cute!”  And she chuckled. The whole room seemed to light up and people laughed, not at her, but right along with her, joining in her delight at the situation.  And I fell in love all over again with Paula.

Later on in the evening, Paula brought me a piece of cake.  I thanked her and kissed her cheek.  A dazed look came over her and she slowly put her hand up to her cheek in wonder.  As she returned into the kitchen, I heard her say to someone, “I’ll never wash my face again.”  The person asked her why and she responded, “Because Margo kissed me.”  I felt my throat constrict and my heart welled up with love.

There are moments that I recognize as pure God moments.  I know I experienced the love of God in that sweet pixie of a person, Paula.  I have often heard people question “why” about many things that happen on this earthly journey, including the “why” of people like Paula.  My answer: they help us to experience a special kind of love – if we are open to it. I will remember Paula with great affection and I hope I get the opportunity to see her again.