After asking why does this image of the purple scarf keep coming
to mind? Abel finally was able to step in and deliver me the message.
Abel took me back through various moments before there ever was a purple
scarf. He showed me visiting my Great Grand Father William Walden.
Our family had taken a trip to Connecticut to visit him for his wedding.
My Great Grandmother had passed away a couple of years earlier, and since
that time he had developed a new relationship with another women Rosemary. As
kids we liked Rosemary and were happy to welcome her into our family, and we were
even more excited to have another Great Grandparent added back into our lives.
During that visit we were at some type of store, and I remember at the
time my favorite color was purple and I kept gravitating to all the things that
were purple, and that is what I was shown.
From there, Abel took me through some other memories of my Great
Grandfather through the years, teaching us how to play poker for dimes,
sneaking popcorn out of the bag on our way to see the 4th of July fireworks,
and teaching us how to be kind to others through example. I cannot
remember him ever correcting our behavior, but rather he simply lead through
example, he was a gentleman in the truest of forms. He always held open
doors for others always verbally expressed his appreciation for the kindness of
others, and even coined the term in our family "Thank You for Your
Courtesy", which today is not heard or spoken by anyone in our family without,
feeling his presence within us. This man whom we called Great Grandpa
Bill was in fact not even really our grandfather in the biological family sense
of things. For he married my Great Grandmother Grace, well after the
arrival of my Grandmother, but it didn't matter to us because he was family and
we all loved him. One year Great Grandpa Bill and Great Grandma Rosemary
came to visit; it was shortly after all the holiday festivities. They
brought use each a gift. I can remember we were having a fancy meal at
Mountain Jacks Steakhouse and I was 8 or 9 years old at the time. We were
kids and so excited for presents wrapped up in beautiful packages with pretty
bows and ribbons. I remember opening mine excited to see what I might
find, and yep you guessed it, the purple scarf. It was a deep rich almost
royal purple colored scarf, it was soft and had fringe on the ends of it.
I remember thinking after opening it, what a scarf, what do I need this
for and it's purple yuck. I remember looking up to say Thank You to them
for my gift and as I was doing so I remember Great Grandma Rosemary saying to
me and its purple your favorite color right? I extended the courtesy to
her and said yes it was and told her how much I liked it and even wore it out
of the restaurant.
See this right here is what is so amazing about Abel and how he
teaches me. All he had to do was simply show me all the various pieces
without saying a word and then I am able to understand, what it is I'm supposed
to be learning/seeing/getting. What a wonderful way to get a question answered.
I could elaborate but I'm assuming you get where this is going and where
I am coming from.
I remembered that simple gift because it was given with such love.
It was searched for, it was a specific color, and it was beautifully and
lovingly wrapped every detail of the exchange was perfect and beautiful. After
all gifts given with the best of love and intentions behind them are the best
ones. However, as a child I was not fully able to understand this and was
fearful of other children teasing me about it at school, but now as I've grown
I can love and see the scarf and understand its meaning and the lessons it
holds.
Now you maybe be asking yourself do I still have the scarf and no
I do not physically still have it. Although apparently that doesn't
matter because somewhere within me I still do have it and hold onto it
otherwise this would not have kept coming back to me and resurfacing after all
these years.
After this mini lesson of realization my thoughts continued to
take me further into this lesson, but I am going to stop here for now. Have you
ever received a gift like this, a gift given with love but at the time you were
unable to appreciate it?
