Thoughts of Yolanda

Thoughts of Yolanda

(A week ago today, Yolanda Garvin Williams was killed in the parking lot of Parrish Medical Center, the hospital where I work. She was gunned down by her husband, whom she'd left a month earlier after years of abuse.)

I asked the man in the bass boat if the island before me in the St. Johns River was Hontoon Island. “No,” he said. “It’s about three miles downstream.” “You’ll see a pier in the water.” I paddled on.

I had loaded my kayak on top of my Escape at 6 am. I swung through MacDonalds for a sausage and egg biscuit on my way out of town. I washed it down with coffee from my orange and black mug emblazoned with the big orange T as I headed for Orange City. I remembered that my sister, Jackie, had said that the stretch of river between Blue Spring and Hontoon Island was pretty and I was looking forward to quiet morning of introspection and renewal.

When I arrived at Orange City, I turned left on French Avenue and proceeded past the entrance to Blue Spring, toward the river. The road turned to dirt, took a sharp dog-leg to the left and then opened up to a boat ramp and parking area. There were only two other vehicles there and they appeared to belong to a couple of guys fishing from the bank. After launching out into the River, I spotted the man in the bass boat.

Heading downstream toward Hontoon Island, the air was heavy and the temperature was already above 80 and it wasn’t even 8 am. The sunlight filtered through the cypress trees along the river to my right and lit up the opposite bank. In short order, I spotted an osprey in the top of a tall cypress, a great blue heron on a fallen tree trunk, and a good sized alligator lazily swimming across the river in front of me from left to right. As I got a little closer, the gator sank beneath the dark water, leaving nary a ripple.

I reached Hontoon Island about 9:30. I beached the kayak and stretched my legs a bit, taking the opportunity to munch on some peanut butter crackers and down a cold bottle of water. I explored a large lagoon to the South of the island before heading back upstream. I wanted to be out of the water about noon, before the temperature hit the 90’s and before any storms developed.

As I rounded the turn back into the main channel, I got a chuckle from a small gator that started to surface near my boat. The quiet shadow of my boat must have startled it as it swam below. It turned about quickly with a loud splash and surfaced again about twenty feet in front of my boat, swimming for all it was worth.

Heading back upstream, I hugged the left bank trying to catch some shade from the trees. The air was filled with croaking frogs, grunting gators and singing birds, as it had been since I set out three hours earlier. Then, behind me, off to the left, far out into the swamp beyond the river, came the deep call of an owl. I coasted noiselessly for a bit till the oncoming current almost brought me to a full stop. The picture of Yolanda flashing that million-dollar smile suddenly filled the screen in my head as it had the screen in the church last Saturday.

Peace. Like a river. At last. Amen.

Jerald

Glimmers
June 3, 2009


Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (I John 4: 7-8, NIV)

My grandson, Evan Joshua Conti, laughs in his sleep. I mentioned this to Eileen, our lactation consultant here at Parrish Medical Center and she said, “He must be a happy baby.” That he is. At a little over one month old, he has had the blessed good fortune of being born to two loving parents and is reaping a legacy of love from their two extended families.

Huey Lewis and the News recorded a song, “The Power of Love,” that begins like this;

The power of love is a curious thing,
Make a one man weep, make another man sing.
Change a heart to a little white dove,
More than a feeling, that’s the power of love

Evan already responds to love. Because of love, his brain is making all kinds of connections that will enable him to love and be loved. But even more fundamental than that, these connections will enable him to be fully human.

Yesterday, I heard a counselor talk about the research being done on attachment disorders. Attachment disorders occur when babies don’t experience love consistently during their first three years of life. It doesn’t just affect their ability to love. It can affect the ability to process information, the ability to understand language, the ability to comfort and soothe one’s self, the ability to control impulses and the ability to make appropriate connections with others. Love really is powerful stuff.

Don’t need money, don’t take fame
Don’t need no credit card to ride this train
It’s strong and its sudden and it’s cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
That’s the power of love.

It can even make you laugh in your sleep.

Blessings to you all,

Jerald