Miss Helen

Hey there you sweet people.

I find myself greeting various groups with these words quite often. They are magic words, or maybe more accurately, spiritually charged words. After the greeting, I find myself believing that the persons I greet are indeed, sweet.

They are not my words. They will forever belong to Helen Blalock. Helen finally decided that Trudy and Max could make it on their own and went on to heaven early this morning, where I am sure she has already greeted many sweet people in her life that went on before she did.

Helen took care of children in Oneonta for a long, long time. Right there at her house, behind the Dairy Queen. Hundreds of kids were told that they were sweet. Some probably didn't hear that opinion directed their way very often.

Jesus talked of a kind of strength in gentleness. Southern writers have written of steel magnolias. Steel does not seem to describe Helen. Steel is too hard and cold. Miss Helen was anything but hard and cold. But she was strong. The kind of strong that comes from love.

So, I just wanted to let you know that we are all going to have to step it up a notch in the love department. Helen took a lot with her when she went. But, she left a whole lot with us.

So, let's honor Helen's life by loving somebody, maybe even somebody not so loveable. Instead of looking for the fault, let's look for the good.

And maybe you would like to try her spiritually charged greeting. It can change your life, you sweet people.