I KNEW

Seventy-nine year old "Richard" suffered from dementia. He had one daughter, "Betsy", who provided his care. Betsy was very attentive to his needs, but was resistant to ask other extended family to help her out. Richard was up all night and Betsy was not getting any sleep. Betsy had a heart condition and one night she ended up in the Emergency Room because of severe chest pain. It scared her and made her realize that she could not continue this way.

I did weekly visits with Betsy and her father as Betsy needed the emotional support. She would stress easily as things could pile up quickly. She felt the need to be able to do it all. The pressure she put on herself was overwhelming, but she was so reluctant to accept any help.

After the Emergency Room visit and with much encouragement from her family, Betsy placed her father in a Board and Care Home nearby. A week later, I went out to visit Richard at the home and he appeared very happy and content. After my visit with Richard, I called Betsy to see how she was coping with the change. She asked that I come out to see her the next day as she felt tremendous guilt placing her father in the home.

The next day I went out to see Betsy. Ten minutes after I walked into her home, her cell phone rang. She ignored the call and said it was the Board and Care Home. I suddenly had this strong feeling that her father had died and that she should take the call. Immediately her home phone rang. I encouraged her to answer the phone. This time it was her granddaughter. After a very short conversation, Betsy ended the call. The minute she hung up the home phone, it rang again. I told Betsy to pick it up.

She answered the phone and seeing the shocked look on her face, I didn't have to ask what she had heard. The owner of the Board and Care Home told Betsy that her father had just died. Betsy then called her daughter to come over in order to drive her to see her father.

The timing for me to be there was just perfect. My premonition and encouragement to Betsy to take the calls, made it possible for me to follow them to the Board and Care Home so that she and her daughter could say goodbye. Betsy needed the extra support and I felt honored to have been available to her.

I believe it was God's hand that guided me to Betsy's home on that particular day at that particular time.


I KNEW

Somehow I knew when her cell rang
that the news would make her sad.
She didn't answer the call,
even though I said she should.

The home phone then started to ring.
A sense of trouble in the air.
I encouraged her to pick it up.
Shocking news of her father's death.

Somehow God directed me there
at the right time and the right place.
She needed strength; she needed support
minutes after I walked in.

It had to be God's intervention
as the timing was just right.
The premonition with the calls,
knowing she needed to pick up.

I knew the calls were coming.
I knew I was there to help.
But in the end, it wasn't me at all
as I was guided from above.

God always knows how.
God only knows.