Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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Of Bunions and Bubble Wrap

February 16, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

Electric blue gleams when I pull down the green box door.

It’s addressed to me.

What on earth?

I recognize the return label.

I know her own heart has been aching lately, and she thinks of me?

Again?

I think about doing things like this.

But my hands don’t always follow my head or my heart.

“You know,” she writes, “some days just call for warm socks and chocolate, and I thought this might just be one of these days.”

She’s so right.

I’ve been thinking about this grumpy grief thing.

And how I’ve kind of been living grief upon grief of one sort or another for years.

I stare at the envelope design and note how seven circles seem to make a flower and how all the flowers connect to make the whole.

I stroke the shiny and pop some bubbles, crackle the wrap.

I think how we crack ourselves open in this online space.

Sometimes spill runny and other times pop bright.

Share our brokenness.

It seems safer here somehow–even in this land littered with unknowns.

We drink each other’s words and hearts and somehow He knits souls, weaves ragged edges into exquisite tapestries.

We know and are known.

And we lean into each other, wrap love around each other.

Become family.

Build community.

I  shiver a little as I dig into the package because didn’t she, just today, write about socks?

About coming skin to skin into His presence?

Uncovered and vulnerable?

Bunions and chipped polish exposed?

(Okay, so I don’t know if SHE has bunions, but I’m pretty sure there’s no chipped polish.)

These are my kind of winter-season-grumpy-grief-pensive-heart kind of socks.

Tall and soft and fleecy.

I sink my feet into both and decide to wear pink.

I pour a cup of rubber-duck-steeped tea, savor a dark chocolate York pattie, and contemplate the sweetness of sock sisters.

And I give thanks for them.

Bonnie’s prompt today is “vulnerable love.”

Also joining Kimberly in community.

JourneyTowardsEpiphany

And gathering around Deb’s table.

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Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Lyla Lindquist says

    February 16, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    Felt the ping of your pang and slid on over my stocking feet.

    You are the perfect picture of a stripy-footed rock star, my friend.

    Love. You.

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:14 pm

      The ping of my pang–or the pain of my ping?

      Love. You. More.

  2. Lyla Lindquist says

    February 16, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    And no, no chipped polish over here. 😉

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:14 pm

      Somehow I knew that.

  3. Lynn Mosher says

    February 16, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    Love the socks! I almost put on my red and white striped ones today. I will think of you and pray for you every time I put them on! Such a precious friend you have. Loved this!

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:15 pm

      Friends. You’re one. 🙂

      So many on my heart when I put on my socks.

  4. Shelly Miller says

    February 16, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    Love this kind of friendship. It stepped out of the on-line community and travelled to your real life house. You are a blessed woman!

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:16 pm

      Stepped out and travelled. Love how that happens. Blessed. Yes.

  5. kd sullivan says

    February 16, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    I want to be the kind of lady that does that sort of thing! I really do! Thank you for linking up with Painting Prose.

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      Me, too. More than just thinking about it.

  6. Hazel Moon says

    February 16, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    Warm sock and chocolate from one warm heart to another.
    Grief sometimes comes in waves that wash over us. They say it often comes in threes! I am reminded of the Gospel Hymn “It is well with my soul, when the sea billows roll”

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:18 pm

      Amen to that, Hazel. He walks those waves.

  7. Sheila Lagrand says

    February 16, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    Pink socks and peppermint patties. And bubble wrap, too? This is the heart of a true friend, here. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:18 pm

      And bubble wrap, too! 🙂

      • Sheila Lagrand says

        February 17, 2012 at 1:01 pm

        I’m not sure what more one could ask for…

  8. Lisa notes says

    February 16, 2012 at 5:47 pm

    So beautiful, so thoughtful. I have those kind of thoughts too, but they don’t usually make it out the door, and certainly not to the post office. 🙁

    But when I’m on the receiving end, I recommit to doing it for others because I love being loved.

    Even with my bunions. Yes, I have them. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:19 pm

      Bunion sisters!

      Time flies so fast from my thought to never doing it…

  9. Cindee Snider Re says

    February 16, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    This just made my heart sing! And its my favorite part of this beautiful community. Love Shelly’s words: “Love this kind of friendship. It stepped out of the on-line community and travelled to your real life house.” Thank you, sweet Sandy! Love You!!

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:20 pm

      Thank YOU, my friend. You make MY heart sing.

  10. Linda says

    February 16, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    It is a wonder – this beautiful community of linked hearts. Isn’t it lovely what sending love in the form of comfy socks and delicious chocolate can do?
    I love visiting here Sandy.

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:22 pm

      It’s amazing. It boggles my mind that we think of each other even when we’re hundreds and thousands of miles apart. And then there are those we’ve spent face time with. Love having spent those days with you.

  11. Charissa Steyn says

    February 17, 2012 at 4:14 am

    how special – i just love this post!!!

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:22 pm

      😀 😀

  12. Patricia says

    February 17, 2012 at 9:11 am

    Those are so soxy ; ) Love you Sandy! You are in my prayers on this beautiful sunny, soxy day. Hopefully, we get to see each other in GR in April?! Wouldn’t that be grand… again. =)

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:23 pm

      Grand in Grand! But waiting until April?

  13. Simply Darlene says

    February 17, 2012 at 10:09 am

    “The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have no wealth to bestow upon him. If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?”

    ~ Henry David Thoreau

    (one of my favorite quotes)

    Blessings.

    • Sandra says

      February 17, 2012 at 12:24 pm

      Love that quote, Darlene! Simply. Friends.

  14. Monica Sharman says

    February 17, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    My feet feel warmer already. 🙂 (By the way, I think striped socks are fabulous!

    Thank you for your recent comment. It meant a lot to me. Community indeed. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      February 18, 2012 at 8:42 pm

      😀 😀 😀

  15. karen r evans says

    February 17, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    What an amazing friend. Lovely looking socks, too. But hey, I’d take the chocolate first. 😛

    • Sandra says

      February 18, 2012 at 8:43 pm

      Cozy socks + rich chocolate = double blessed.

  16. shannon says

    February 17, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    🙂

    • Sandra says

      February 18, 2012 at 8:43 pm

      🙂

  17. Melinda Lancaster says

    February 18, 2012 at 8:36 pm

    Sock. Sisters. Rock.

    • Sandra says

      February 18, 2012 at 8:43 pm

      That’s. The. Truth.

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