Fields of Gold

You wanna hear a true story?
I once knew a woman named Carol Jordison. I met her at ADP. At first I only knew her through work, and because of work, and she scared me. Not only because of her appearance, which was formidable (she was a very heavy woman and wore a lot of makeup & her lipstick was ALWAYS perfectly bright red), but she was very good at her job. And the reason that made me afraid was because I was just learning mine, and her's was to support mine, and I didn't always do things right. And she didn't abide fools lightly. With me so far?
So Carol & I got to know each other over time. And I realised that far from being scary, this woman was one of the nicest, most moral (in the best sense of the word), most giving & sacrificial women that I knew. I used to sit with her in the break room at lunch & watch her crochet someone a new blanket, which she was ALWAYS doing in her spare time, watch her drink her diet coke with the lipstick-stained straw, and talk with her about her life or mine. She was very self-effacing. She never seemed to think that she was anything but completely ordinary. But that woman raised 2 children alone after leaving an alcoholic husband. She saved money for her kids and lived in a trailer park. She drove a 20 year old truck 2 hours EACH WAY to and from work, and was always the first one in the office, looking like a million bucks while I, who lived 10 min. away, looked like I had rolled out of bed & got HIT by a truck. She lived for the summer vacations with her grandchildren when they would rent an RV & hit the road. And I found out that she had fought cancer alone about 10 years before, drove herself to and from chemo, all by herself. This woman was amazing to me. She was so humble. One time Jeff & I took her out to dinner and she seemed embarrassed the whole time, like she felt like she wasn't worth the effort. She made, as I said, blankets for everyone. If you had a baby, if you were getting married, you knew you could count on a Carol blanket. And they were worth having.
I say I knew her because shortly after I left ADP I found out one day that she had died. Her cancer came back and she passed away, when just a week or so previously she had been in the office working hard, as always.
So today I covered Noah up with a Carol blanket, one of the 3 she gave us, and I thought about her. It's nice & warm & has given us 4 years of comfort. And I think she would be happy to know that her generosity lives on in our home, covering our little ones, and that I think of her fondly every time I see her handywork. Thank you Carol. Jeff & I loved you a lot. I hope that someday, when it's my turn, I can have accomplished what you did: a legacy to the people that knew you of giving & caring.
That's what my heart is full of this afternoon.