Original post in June 2023: This painting is for my friend, Sherri, who deals with chronic pain due to neuropathy. She’s always so cheerful when I see her – I don’t think I’d deal with my pain half so well. Now I need to put this one in the mail for her.

Update: I’m reposting this today in honor of my friend Sherri whom the Lord recently called home to Him. She is living out the beautiful truth of Revelation 21:4b:

There shall be no more pain
for the former things
have passed away.

Sherri and I met through homeschooling many years ago and I enjoyed her lively humor and sense of fun from the beginning. We saw each other somewhat regularly over the span of those homeschooling years, but it really wasn’t until our kids were mostly grown and gone that the friendship took off. Whenever we got together I knew I was in for an interesting conversation involving politics, current events, our shared faith, theology, our children, conspiracy theories, prepping for emergencies, health issues and more. Buckle up!

A few years ago, she broke her ankle and I ended up spending some time every week with her for a couple months. Originally, I just thought she might enjoy the company, since she was homebound. However, she came up with the idea that as long as I was there, maybe I could help her with sorting through her stuff. Both Sherri and I have a hard time getting rid of our own stuff, but there’s nothing more fun than helping someone else get rid of theirs. Say no more! I rolled up my sleeves and we spent those afternoons sorting through things, with me forcing her to make constant decisions about whether to keep, give away or throw away every item. Each time I left there were a couple more boxes or bags of things to get rid of. She was probably exhausted after every visit, but honestly it was so much fun. She was such a good sport about it all and the time together was a wonderful blessing to me. When she was back on her feet, she came over to my house to return the favor by helping me get rid of stuff in my craft room. She was every bit as hard on me as I was on her – and I needed it! And through it all, there was always lots of laughter.

Somewhere along the line, we got in the habit of taking each other out for our birthdays every year. It was a lovely tradition, one we both looked forward to. Her birthday was in August, but we didn’t get to it until early September this year. I treated her to a session of red light therapy with me before the meal, which was a hoot. I don’t remember much of what we talked about in particular that day, but it was the last time we were together.

I was shocked and devastated when I heard the news of her passing. Don’t get me wrong – I rejoice that she’s with Jesus and that her long years of pain are over. She is free indeed. But I will miss her tremendously. Everyone who knew her is now poorer without her in some way.

But thanks be to God, I will see her again, and for that I am very grateful.

I’ll probably not delete this in the morning.

I entered into a shop in Bayfield and thought it would be like all other shops of its ilk. But as I wandered through the place, admiring its wares, I heard a strange, high-pitched voice saying, “Psst! Over here!”

Puzzled, I looked around but didn’t see anyone, so I kept going.

“PSSST! Wrong way! You’re getting colder! Turn around!” I turned toward the sound of the voice, which appeared to be coming from a rack of beautiful cards made by quilling. Curiouser and curiouser!

A tiny movement caught my eye…and then I saw it (him? her?) – the hedgehog on a card was clearly gesturing to me with its tiny paws. I came closer to hear it better.

“If you don’t buy me for Teresa’s birthday, I will have been brought into this world in vain,” it said. And having delivered its message, it went back to being a card.

Strong words! Compelling words! What else could I do?

As it happened, I already had something for the aforementioned Teresa’s birthday, found many months ago in another shop of vintage items and remnants from estate sales. Teresa and I were there together ambling through the delightful collection of oddments, when she held something up and said, “Look at this! It’s adorable!” And it was: a figurine of a girl on a bench wearing a yellow raincoat, yellow boots, and sitting beside a little hedgehog. Although the item showed its years with small spots and minor discolorations, this did not detract from its charm one whit. Teresa put it somewhat reluctantly back on the shelf and as soon as we parted for our respective cities, I circled back around and raced into the shop hoping she hadn’t had the same idea. She hadn’t.

And now these two hedgehogs have been brought together. I expect the little yellow-raincoat girl is just as happy to have two of them to keep her company – and when they meet Teresa’s other hedgehog named Percival, there will be all sorts of rejoicing.

Happy (pre) birthday, dear friend!

A friend loves at all times…
Proverbs 17:17

This post may have exceeded the limit of hedgehog mentions and if so, will summarily be deleted in the morning.