Back to the Motherland, Day 2

We slept.


The children all slept, the adults slept, and when we woke up, all of us felt happy.

We had been given a job to go purchase a Princess Torte (see exhibit A of pure deliciousness…) and some flowers for an amazing Latvian couple that was being sealed that day. We were to have the “party” delivered to the temple annex by 12:00 p.m.

Exhibit A...inside look

                                                           Exhibit A in all its lush glory.
As we walked across the street to the most charming grocery store you have ever laid eyes on, I noticed a woman lying on the sidewalk. She was an elderly lady and looked disoriented and very disheveled. I didn’t look closely but I immediately assumed she must be mentally ill or drunk. I gently started to steer my children around her when I noticed a young mother with 3 children in tow stop their bikes and rush over to this woman. It was then I noticed the blood.

I quickly turned around and rushed back to see if I could help. I was embarrassed and ashamed. How many times have I heard the story of the Good Samaritan? How many times have I wondered what I would have done in that situation? Suddenly I was there and I wasn’t very happy with what I saw about myself. So what if she was drunk or mentally ill? Didn’t she still deserve to be helped up? What would the Savior have done? That made me more ashamed. I will never be that person I was for a moment yesterday…my children will never see me turn away from someone in need again. I will never judge a person by what my physical eyes think they see. I know better.

This poor woman had fallen hard and split open her chin…among other things. This sweet woman who stopped to help started yelling instructions to me. Here is what I understood: “Blah, blah, blah, blah, servieter, blah, blah.” Ha! I understood that word…it meant napkins. I raced off to the Chinese Restaurant on the corner and played charades with the Thai waiter until I got some napkins. I raced back. The blood was still pouring out her mouth and chin…it was all over her hands, coat, bag and sidewalk. The woman helping gave more directions: “Blah, blah, blah, vand, blah, blah, servieter!” Ah…

Water + Napkins=Wet Napkins!

I raced back to the restaurant where the Thai man just watched me in puzzled amazement. I raced back. We managed to help her off the ground and into the Chinese restaurant to wash up. My husband and children and the other woman’s 3 children just stood and then followed in quiet wonder. Jacob said one of the Swedish boys said something to him. When I asked what he did, Jacob shrugged and said, “I just stood there.” I guess he wasn’t sure which of his 2 Swedish words would fit best…Ja (yes) or Tak (thank you). We walked the injured woman over to a bench and sat her down where 2 other older women said they knew her and would make sure she would get home safely. We couldn’t convince her that she needed to go to the doctor for stitches. Every time we suggested it, she insisted that she needed to get to the Post Office to withdraw money. I hope she got home OK. It was such a humbling experience.

After delivering our goods and meeting some of the amazing people my parents work with at the temple, we headed home for some lunch and rest. Poor Jacob had woken up earlier than the rest of us and was starting what I could see was going to be a doozy of a meltdown. He and I laid down and had ourselves a good 2 hour nap! Fabulous, delightful, cozy nap.

A Viking grave in front of the beautiful Stockholm temple!

After our nap, we headed out to explore the area around the temple and my parent’s home. We headed down this bicycle/walking path into one of my favorite things on the whole planet…a Swedish forest. How can I describe it? There are tall, stately trees that reach into the sky. There is moss in the most amazing hues and shades of green clinging to the rocks and tree trunks. Little clumps of snow drop flowers dot the forest floor and giant logs for climbing and walking on criss-cross the landscape. The ground is so moist and mossy that it feels like you are walking on spongy ground. It is so green and silent and smells clean, green, and adventurous. Add to that a Viking burial ground and you have some pretty exciting things to explore. Even in my parent’s front yard are piles of rocks marking ancient Viking burial grounds. Right there. In the front yard. Don’t see much of that in the United States.

We walked this trail and marveled at what we were seeing. It was amazing! My mom met us after her shift at the temple and told us a little about this region. Even when the temple was being built, they had to have an archeologist on site to research any item they came across in their digging. This area has been a farming/fishing region for EONS of time…stone age, bronze age, roman age, etc. And for all those eons and eons of time, this part of the area was used as burial grounds. It was so interesting! I love history…I love all the questions with no answers that allow me to imagine and try to create who the individuals were that lived there and what stories these rocks and trees could tell. Incredible!

Jake and I made a quick trip back to the grocery store for a little item we had seen earlier. I handed him the money and let him buy the delicious chocolate balls filled with cream. Oh divine chocolate balls. I will post pictures but I will not apologize for my multiple chins and large round buttocks. I may be chubby, but heaven help me…I am enjoying every last drop of cream around here. I’ll think about Weight Watchers after the 17th. After a delicious dinner, we all headed upstairs to the “study” to watch “Princess and the Frong”…Mo and Papa’s first viewing.

We are having such a fabulous time! The kids are doing fantastic, we are sleeping and eating chocolate and adoring my parents. Perfectly, perfect.

RANDOM PICTURES:

Matthew & Hannah's favorite toy is the laundry hamper in the basement.

Hannah LOVES the toliet paper with lambs on it. I think she is stashing small amounts of it in her suitcase.