Delivering flowers can bring happiness and sadness in the same day

It was a Wednesday near the end of December. I was dispatched to deliver a flower arrangement to 16 Wheatley Street. I plugged the address into Google Maps and off I went. Number 16 Wheatley Street was the last delivery of my day. By the time I turned off the main road it was 2:30 in the afternoon. The December sky was gray and remnants of snow and ice lay on the street from the last snowfall. It was not dusk yet but it was looming. On this day it was not snowing and was quite warm. Intermittent drizzle made the sky laden with moisture and bordering on foggy. I loved these kind of days.

The GPS in Google Maps told me that I was heading in the right direction. I saw on the mailboxes and houses that the numbers were going up. I drove past 8, 10, 12 Wheatley Street. I came to the end of the street and discovered there did not appear to be a 16 Wheatley Street. The numbers ended at 14. There was a lady in the driveway of 14 Wheatley Street walking to her mailbox. She told me that 16 Wheatley was across the side street. Well, I asked her, wouldn't that mean  that the house was not really on Wheatley Street at all? She replied that the side street didn't used to be there. Wheatley Street once ended in a dead end at number 16. 

She went on to say this happens a lot in subdivisions where new houses and streets are added. She also told me that when I knock on the door at number 16 to prepare myself for a long wait. The customer was elderly and needed time to get to the door.

I enjoyed the kind lady's advice and knowledge about her neighborhood. I parked the van in the driveway of number 16 and walked to the front porch. I knocked firmly on the door so my elderly customer could hear it. I waited about a minute and then the door opened. Standing there was a frail small lady who looked to be in her seventies. She had her cane nestled in her hand beside her right hip. She looked clean and was dressed well. We had a small chat and she told me that she had not been out of the four walls of her house in two years. Two years of not going outside at all. I peeked inside the partially opened door and saw a neat and well-furnished home. This little frail lady was not hurting for money but she certainly could have used some time outdoors.

After our short visit I walked back to the van parked in the driveway. As I drove back to the flower shop I thought about the little lady on Wheatley Street. I wondered what it would be like to stay indoors for two years. What had the little old lady missed in those two housebound years? She may have missed the forsythias blooming in her neighborhood. She may have missed the smell of newly mown grass. She may have missed the kids playing in the neighborhood playground with their noises and laughter filling the air.

I have never been housebound for even two weeks. I could never imagine what it would be like to be cooped up inside a house for two years. Everyone gets to go outdoors. People in nursing homes go outdoors occasionally.  Hospital patients go outdoors if only to smoke cigarettes. Prisoners are allowed outdoors almost every day. I could not understand why this sweet but frail lady could not go outdoors at least once in a while.

Nature equals sustenance for many people. Without fresh air to breathe and sunshine in my eyes I would soon go downhill emotionally and physically. It would only be a matter of time until I was walking with a cane just like the little old frail lady at number 16. I thank God every day for my legs and my arms and a strong torso to support me. I thank God for a functioning brain and the ability to do for myself and help others. I thank God for the incredible gift of life. Every time I see that big orange ball come up I rejoice.

Sunrise in December.
The sun barely comes over the horizon.
Winter solstice changes all that.
Days start getting longer.