Today was the third time I fainted in a church. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing. I was humbled by being escorted out of the church by some dear family friends (whose children, coincidentally, have been my violin students in the past). Their kind concern truly touched me in that moment. I have also an older gentleman to thank for getting an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist to bring me Communion during the Mass, since I was too weak to join the line.
Afterwards, everyone followed in their cars to my parents' house, where they helped me inside and to lie down, offering to run errands to bring medicine or food which might help my condition. I declare, these people are some of the most generous I have ever met! They put aside their Sunday plans to help a girl who was ill. May God reward them.
Well, after some medicine and rest, I was well enough to take a little food, and presently I felt strong enough to venture out to visit with my mother's cousin Karen, whose birthday it is today. She had invited me on the spur of the moment yesterday, and I'm certainly glad I went! Small world, small world... her boyfriend had a close friend who came to the party, and it turned out he knew my mother from a young adults' Bible study back in the eighties, when my parents first met! Moreover, this man had been close friends with Karen's boyfriend since the eighties as well, through working for the same company, and my cousin started dating her boyfriend ten years ago! It's fun to see how people meet again after so many years and how they connect with each other in the present. That made the party even more enjoyable, because I could talk to that acquaintance of my mother's about the group and people whom I knew from there. It was great seeing my cousin's dogs again and meeting that family's dog, Happy. They had adopted a little boy from Russia who is the same age as my little brother, so they had great fun splashing in the jacuzzi and playing with marble tracks.
More of my cousin's friends trickled in and we got to talking about genealogy, since my family were the only relatives present. It's our current common hobby - especially on the Swedish side... and now Karen has me itching to go visit our family in Sweden (I've always wanted to travel), who could probably tell me much more about the family history. My current family tree project is sitting at 450 persons at the moment, including a few people on my father's side (mostly the living folks, from his generation down). We also briefly talked about food and cooking, including a recipe for Hungarian stew... I'll have to try that the first chance I get.
What a full day! Life is certainly worth living, and far too short to die.
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