Wind Chimes

They were on the ground again. Darn. Those same wind chimes, big ones with tones I adore had come unstrung and lay mute in the leaves below the tree on which they were meant to be hanging. Not the end of the world to be sure but they were grace notes in the wind when properly hung and I missed them.

For the third time in six months I set about to repair them. Rooting around in the garage this time I found even stronger wire. Surely this repair would hold. I completed the task and hung the chimes just before I left for an extended few winter months away.

The season passed and eager to be home I pulled up the drive…all looked well at first glance except that not only were the chimes not on the tree they were not to be found on the ground beneath the tree. Mysterious. Winter must have been more brutal than usual I thought.

My brother in law called welcoming me home and asked if he could come by to drop something off. He and my sister live only a few minutes away, “Sure” I said. When they arrived he was carrying the wind chimes. Re-strung wind chimes. He is a retired surgeon and explained the procedure he had performed on the chimes…special wire, special knots, additional lacings. As he described his process I wondered when he had even registered that the chimes were down? I wondered if I would ever have thought to do something so kind for a relative or a friend? If unprompted, would I have gone out of my way to perform so laborious a task?

It’s just the kind of thing he used to do for my folks when they were alive. Swing by after a long day’s work just to check in, to change a light bulb, to bring an interesting newspaper article, to listen to one of their stories. He shows up. I think that’s one of the many reasons why my sister fell in love with him. He performs the tasks that don’t garner applause. He volunteers to do the jobs no one else wants or even thinks to do.

Years ago my life had taken a lousy turn. A divorced Mom, financially on my own with a young teenager to finish raising and educating, I was about to fall off a fiscal cliff. It was a very scary time and I was scrambling to figure out our way forward. During a painful discussion on possible options, my brother in law, who had been largely quiet during my ramblings, fell even more quiet. Then he said something remarkable. He told me I could move in with them if such time came as I needed to. It was an extraordinary offer and he was sincere in it. Suddenly I could breathe. Suddenly I had hope. His generosity of spirit bolstered me at a time I deeply needed bolstering. He didn’t have to issue that kindness, surely he knew it would have been greatly inconvenient for him and for my sister for my young son and I to move in with them…but he did it anyway.

As it turned out resilience, luck and life force all convened in my favor and we did not need to move in with them. Turned out it was just one of the life valleys I had to walk through but my steps had been made ever so much lighter having been companioned by so generous an offer. Now, when the wind chimes sing in the breeze I think of the kindness from my fine brother in law, of the many grace notes he continues to put in the lives of so many, including mine.

Blue Pearl