Encounters

Encounters --- by Ray Hart

Claire - It's An Honor

"All That I Give Is Given To Myself"

When first we saw the apartment we rented we were met by the girl in apartment #1, downstairs from apartment #2. She gave Joy the key to look at it. I hadn't arrived as of yet, but when I did, Joy and her sweet friend, Jan, were all smiles.

I looked at the vastness of the two bedroom condo; with mirrors covering two walls, it looked even bigger. Yeah! This is it! We were all aglow! It was right on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, and I had sorta decided beforehand that we didn't want to live on a main street with all the traffic and noise. Besides, our two kitties, (Tiggy and Poki), wouldn't be able to get out like they had been in Lomita. But, this was the "right" place. Obviously.

And when Claire, the girl in apartment #1, who we had just met, gave us each a hug and said she hoped we got the place I knew that we would get it, and that it would be the perfect place for us.

It is, and our kitties love going out on the balcony to nibble the kitty grass I planted in a box for them.

But, this is about our encounter with Claire. She was a mother with three neat (and sometimes VERY LOUD!) boys. And I soon found out what a wonderful friend she could be. This discovery came about as soon as we moved into our new home. She was there offering to help even though she had her hands full with the three kids.

And as we got to know her even more over the following year I discovered that Claire was simply a warm loving person who just enjoyed helping others - people especially, but also dogs, cats, animals - probably butterflies too. Sometimes I would stop in to say hello as I went by her place, which I had to whenever I came and went. Claire seemed to always have some weird looking people around. Like Ben, the one-eyed homeless guy who looked like he had been dragged through life screaming and kicking.

She had him sitting at her dining room table as she invited me in last fall. Ben had really been through the mill. He needed a lot of help in the cleaning up department, but Claire was taking care of first things first. She was making him a huge sandwich to put next to the huge glass of milk he was drinking. He was saying something about how he could always count on her to help just when he needed it, which seemed like every moment of his life from the looks of him! But Claire simply smiled and said that she was glad she could do something for him, that it was an honor.

WOW!

What a girl!

Claire has moved. About ten months ago, as a matter of fact. She has since had another baby - another boy, of course! And she has had her hands full all the more with caring for the kids, the baby (Arthur), and whatever person that just happens to need a helping hand.

What makes this all the more wonderful to is that she has been there for me while I have been under the weather these past few weeks. Joy went up to Santa Cruz to help a dear friend over the weekend and Claire was here to help me get through some downright bad days. She simply called and found out that I was alone and ill and she came running over to help, to go to the store, take out the trash, and simply to let me know that she cared. All this while in the process of moving again to another place, with the kids doing their own things and with her old man trying to get everything moved. Claire, of course, had been packing, moving, cleaning, etc. & etc. And she still had to be here for me.

One never knows what an encounter may be. But for sure, "every chance meeting is a holy encounter." And when I thanked Claire for being an angel she simply said that she was glad to help and that it was an honor.

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