A letter from Ruth.
2006
I met Mrs. Reyna in February of 2005 after she had moved from Flint to her new home in Westphalia. My daughter and I took turns staying with her on Thursday evenings while Fr. Cecilio went to his meetings.
Mrs. Reyna loved to pray the rosary. She always had one available for me to use hanging around her bed post. She had a lot more practice saying the rosary that I did so she could help me out. Some of the prayers she would pray in Spanish while I prayed in English. She did not just rattle of one Hail Mary after another. Each one was spoken with reverence.
We played many games of Chinese checkers as well as connect four. She liked to win and so did I which led to lively games. She would sit down on the edge of her bed with the game on the small table between us. Many evening she was tired and I would suggest we stop. She would say that she just needed to rest for a few minutes. After a short break, she would pop back up full of energy and ready to continue especially if we were tied in the number of games each of us had won. At first I thought I should be kind to this elderly lady and let her win. I found out I didn’t need to “let her win” but had to play hard to win myself. We joyfully congratulated each other once the games were over.
Last summer, we want out to the rosary garden. We would admire and talk about the different types of beautiful flowers as we moved through the garden from one plant to another. Mrs. Reyna would touch, smell, and pick some of them to take back to the house with her.
One evening we were upstairs in the living room watching a TV show which was in Spanish. I have limited Spanish proficiency since the only words I learned from watching Sesame Street with my children when they were little. I had to keep asking Mrs. Reyna what was happening and she would patiently explain as the drama on TV unfolded.
Mrs. Reyna loved music so I would play the piano for her. Sometimes she would join me in the room with the piano. Other times she listened from her bed. Even though the piano was out of tune and sometimes, so was I, she always made me feel as if I had just performed beautifully.
As the months went by, my visit were spread further apart as my commitment at work went from part time to full time. Mrs. Reyna no longer had the energy to play the games as we did early on. I brought CDs and we used the CD player by her bed. Sometimes we listened to classical piano music, sometimes country music. She had a CD made at Our Lady Guadalupe, her home parish in Flint. She would answer my many questions on the background history of the singers and their families. Even though Christmas had come and gone when I visited in January, we enjoyed and sang along with Christmas music.
The last time I stayed with Mrs. Reyna, she told me she wanted to stay awake, because when she fell asleep early in the evening, she would lay awake for a period of time in the middle of the night. I told her I would keep her awake. Every once in a while as we listened to the music, I would say, “Mrs. Reyna, are you awake?” She would say, “Yes, I am.” I would follow with, “but your eyes are closed.” She would reply, “I am just resting them.”
I knew Mrs. Reyna had multiple health issues. I knew she was in her eighties and had lived a long life. Yet, I was surprised and saddened when I learned of her death.
I will miss my visits with Mrs. Reyna and the peacefulness and gentleness I felt when in her presence, especially if I had a long difficult day at work before coming to see her. The frustrations I might have had in my day seemed to evaporate.
Mrs. Reyna had a deep spirituality, a closeness to God. Somehow I felt closer to God because of her. I had thought I was being helpful by staying with her and somehow in the end I was the one being helped.
Ruth