A Red Amaryllis

(Ray’s Note: As I talk about my friends and their extraordinary gifts, I’ll be using names that I think fit them, but these are not their real names.)

There is a red Amaryllis in the window, eagerly consuming the late winter sun.

“Mrs. Sage always had a red Amaryllis, and she always gave one to us. So her family brought us this flower for Christmas this year. And I guess that’s that,” says my friend. Carla and her husband Gene now live in Mrs. Sage’s house. When Carla has clearly finished her time with a subject, she closes that portion of the conversation with “and I guess that’s that.” It’s not abrupt or dismissive; rather, she uses the phrase as a segue. In music I would call it a modulation to a new key, a new theme about to be explored.

Carla bought the house from Mrs. Sage while she was still alive. Although she won’t go into great detail, here is what I know. Mrs. Sage was quite elderly and on a fixed income. Carla bought the house herself, and then Mrs. Sage continued to live there for the rest of her life. She died in her 90’s about 18 months ago, and once Mrs. Sage’s family had settled everything and moved her things, Carla and Gene decided the house “felt right” – and so they moved in.

But in my heart, I know that Carla decided to take care of Mrs. Sage and be sure that she could live out her life in the home she loved.

Gene is a retired school teacher, as is Carla. They met and fell in love late in life and Gene is a few years older than Carla. They were part of NY State’s wonderful Tier I retirement system – something that no longer exists, but those who retired as part of this system count themselves among the luckiest retirees in the country. He’s happy and very much in love with Carla. It's Gene's second marriage (he lost his first love to cancer), and he glows when he talks about his daughter from his first marriage and her family. Hannah moved back from Florida to this small North Country town where she was raised (and where her father taught her in school).

Gene has had some tough times health-wise of late, and so he’s been spending a lot of time in our hospital. He’s home now, though, and when I arrived for our visit he was busy working at his desk. Mrs. Sage loved the sunlight, so there are beautiful skylights throughout the house, spilling natural sunshine and making the woodstove warmed great room more cheery than it has a right to be on this frigid morning. His hands are bruised still from the infusion therapy, but he is clearly happy.

Carla is a cancer survivor. She was treated in our own C.R. Wood Cancer Center and it was a terrible battle back to health. But, as Carla will tell you, “every battle against cancer is s terrible battle.”

“Everyone is so caring, so good,” she says thinking of Gene's recent care. “I am so thankful you (meaning our hospital) are there for us; for everyone in our community.”

What’s left unsaid – unsaid because that’s just how Carla is – is that her community is 65 miles across winding Adirondack roads from Glens Falls Hospital. And she also chooses not to go into the fact that she has organized her friends and neighbors to be sure that folks from her town that have to travel to our hospital for infusion therapy such as chemotherapy, or for regular appointments of any kind, have a ride and a companion over the long haul to Glens Falls.

She is a woman of great faith, with the words of faith from her holy book stitched, etched, and painted on various items throughout her home.

And she has great financial savvy. Another of her own organizations is the women’s investment club she started. “I have been so blessed in so many ways,” she intones, almost reverently. “I just want to share.”

My visit was to put the finishing touches on her most recent major gift to our hospital. As I said, she’s a very savvy investor, and so we’ve wrapped up a very generous gift annuity – her third. “It benefits all concerned, doesn’t it?” she asks rhetorically. I can’t help but smile, knowing Rotary International founder Paul Harris would be proud.

We sit down to lunch, and Gene’s daughter Hannah has joined us. Salad, home made baked beans, and an apple crisp brought by a neighbor. Carla bows her head and expresses her thanks for all she has, and we enjoy our meal. And I somehow feel the red Amaryllis in the window is sending a message to Mrs. Sage that all is well.

And I guess that’s that.