Happy Birthday, My Dearest Agy!

Happy Birthday Agy !

We all have special people in our lives and I am sure that we don't tell them how much we appreciate them often enough.

I've met Agy approximately 30 years ago back in Romania. She took me under her wing and we have been friends ever since, even if we live on different continents.

Some time ago, I wrote this blog post for her. I think it applies to the present day, too. You can read it below.

Today is her birthday, so, happy birthday my dearest friend. I wish you everything that I wish for myself, and much more. You deserve it!

She is My Guardian Angel

Today I am going to tell you about a very special person...I am calling her my guardian angel, and you know what, I really believe she is one...People like her are oh, so rare, and I consider myself blessed for meeting  her.
I met Agy more than 15 years ago, back in Romania. I was a young career woman and single mother, struggling with life in a new , post-communist Romania. She was my cleaning lady...Well, that was in the beginning...because, in time, she became my friend, my confessor, she took care of me, cooked meals for my son and waited for me when I came from work exhausted, with a cup of coffee and an understanding ear. Only one year my senior she was like a mother to me because she has wisdom beyond her age. She was my sister because she has a true, tender and loving heart and she knows how to listen. Truly listen. She was my best friend because she wasn't afraid to tell me the truth even if she knew it would hurt and then it was there to wipe my tears.
After I left Romania and come to live in Israel she stayed there and took care of my "affairs" (I have an apartment that I rent) and then she "adopted" my mother-in-law and became her friend and helper and guardian angel until the her last days...When my mother in law passed away, Agy was there and not her son, and she made the funeral arrangements and now she is the one that goes to the cemetery and lights a candle on her grave...
Twice a year, on Easter and Christmas she sends us presents, each summer when we travel to Romania, she is there and takes care of everything for me, gives me one of her mobile phones, brings me flyers for take-aways and does my washing, take us fishing and spends hours entertaining Maya, which adores her.
And she is like this with everyone around her...
She is a simple woman, no higher education, no fancy life...just a simple, hard-working woman, and believe me, she works hard...but every person that knows her loves and respects her. Because she is honest, above all, and has a heart the size of a continent.
I consider myself lucky and I thank God for the day when our paths crossed because I know that He sent Agy to watch over me. She is an angel. And I love her.
The words are too poor to describe the depth of my thankfulness, to tell you more about the woman that touched our lives and made them better.
I am just telling this: Thank you Agy, from the bottom of my heart. I love you.

Thank God for Guardian Angels!

Image by KM&G-Morris via Flickr

I haven't been blogging lately as an "old" condition of mine has been giving me a hard time. I know that because of Maya's health concerns I've been neglecting mine and now they are back with a vengeance...My problems are related to my womanhood so I am not very comfortable talking about them and boy, are they giving me grief or what...I am pretty concerned because usually this kind of problem ends with surgery and I have my issues with doctors, I don't exactly trust them...
And talking about not trusting doctors... When Maya's health problems started, aproximately one month and a half ago, I was very concerned and took her to the emergency room. There, they said her general state is good and send us home. I have it written black on white on the release papers we received there and they also wrote that she isn't dehydrated (based on what assuption, because they didn't do any tests, I have no idea). Well, surprise, surprise! Next day we were back after Maya had her first episode of convulsions and the urine test showed she was severely dehydrated!!! She was admitted and well, you know the rest. Oh, on top of everything, we have to pay for our first visit to the ER!!!!! 600 shekels, and that is a lot of money! Because they looked and her and send her home when she was very sick! Honestly, if they'll take the money I am thinking about suing. Because just isn't right! My baby-girl almost died because they didn't do their job properly and I have to say thank you and pay for it. NO WAY! And it is not the money, it is the principle.
Oh, this effing world is so buggered up! Doctors treat you like they'd treat an annoying fly and I say a "thank you" prayer to God every night because He saved my baby's life and not the bloody doctors!!!
I am upset, very upset...and I don't want to put myself willingly in the hands of some butcher so I don't know what to do...I am going to research every type of alternative medicine possible and go with it. My condition is not life-threatening and of course this problem would've been avoided if someone nice enough would've told me after I gave birth to Maya what I needed to do...
So, you see, doctors are on my Christmas list right now. Although I have a very good friend who is a doctor and the only HUMAN doctor I've known for a long time...He helps whenever he can and I am for ever grateful for this.The only person I would trust my life with at this moment is my acupuncturist, but he is an angel in disguise, so it doesn't count...
Thank God for guardian angels, otherwise we would be in trouble...

About Guardian Angels

Image via Wikipedia

As you all know, my sister is visiting us...I haven't seen her for two years (when I saw her for something like four hours) and we haven't talked face to face since...I don't remember. So know as we are finally together we stay every night until late and we talk about what happened in our lives all this years, and we remember our childhood and laugh at memories until we cry.

During this late night discussions I observed that a pattern emerged: whenever I had some problem in my life somebody showed up and helped me in some way. I am not talking here about major problems and life saving interventions or miracles. I am talking about the daily problems that we have in our lives. And I'll give you an example: some time ago, back in Romania, my son and I were returning home from a few weeks holiday at the seaside. We traveled by train, as from our home town - Cluj, until the seaside is a long way. We reaced Cluj at 5 o'clock in the morning and we had to take a cab as we lived far away from the train station and we were laden with luggade (Darie, my son, was 8 years old back then) but I didn't have enough money for the trip. So, when a cab stopped to take us I told him that I had only a certain amount of money and I gave him our adress but I told him to stop when we reached the amount of money that I had, and that we'd walked from there. I remember that the cab driver looked at me and said:"No problems, lady, I'll take you and your kid home and you'll pay me whatever you have".

This kind of events I am talking about...

I always say that I had a lot of guardian angels looking after me. I remember a lot of events that at first sight , seem unimportant, but they are of great importance in the bigger picture.

When we were kids we had, on the wall in our room (I slept with my brothers and sister in the same room until I got married) a picture with a guardian angel that was protecting two children as they were crossing over a bridge, and underneath it, a tempestuous river... I used to say a prayer before going to sleep that was adressed directly to the angel, and it sounded something like this (I am translating it from Romanian):

"My angel, my little angel

That God gave to me

Be always at my side and teach me how to do good

I am small, make me tall

I am weak, make me strong

Be always by my side and protect me from evil."

Sometimes we just don't pay attention to the little things that make out our lives and we take a lot for granted. Recently I discovered that I have a lot to be grateful for and I promise not to forget my guardian angels and at least to remember them in my prayers.