By Elaine Rassel
Jeremy was an older man that had no family. He had been an only child and after his parents died, he lived the rest of his life alone with no family. Through life, he had friends but now they have all died. He once had a good friend but there had been a disagreement between the two of them. As many times as Jeremy tried to get in contact with the friend and try and renew their friendship, it didn’t happen. There was only mail or a knock at the door to get in touch with anyone—no phone or Face book, etc. at that time. After not getting any response by several door knocks, he finally sent a letter that also didn’t get any response. Jeremy soon became housebound and the friend had died without answering his request.
His only friend now was Rev. Burton. The Rev. would visit Jeremy once a week and would hear the same thing from Jeremy—“I have tried several times, when I was able to get out of the house, to make amends with my friend. Now this friend has died. Will I still be lonely after I die”? All Jeremy wanted was to be ‘wanted’ by someone.
The day came when Jeremy passed away and there were only two others and Rev. Burton at his graveside service. Rev. Burton began to think about his own life and how most of the time, the people
of this town kept him busy, but it was the hours after that that he was lonely. Was the time coming when he would be another ‘Jeremy’?
There was a widow lady, Mrs. Crumb, that came faithfully every Sunday to church. Someone would stop by and bring her and maybe offer her dinner after the service, but other than that, she was lonely but let no one know it. One Sunday morning after the service, she asked Rev. Burton if he would like to come to supper that evening. Yes, he would. After the supper, she said she would like to confess something to him. Of course, he had no idea what that would be.
She said that she cared very much for a neighbor of hers and in fact ‘loved’ this man. The man was Rev. Burton! He was shocked but quickly said he would have to leave as it was getting late. Exit, in a hurry, he did! After reaching his room, he thought things over. Did he really want to be lonely as Jeremy had been or was Mrs. Crumb the answer to his loneliness? After some thought on the matter, a number of Sunday’s later, he told Mrs. Crumb he wanted to see her. He told her he was sorry he had left in such a hurry and that it really wasn’t because of the late hour, but of what she had said.
She was sorry she had made a fool of herself but he wouldn’t hear of this. He really did want to include her in his life if she was still interested. He began coming to her house for supper and sometimes other times. Now, Janet Miller was a troublemaker (he had a room in her place of business) and began to see things that were really not happening, and decided to do something about it. The day came when Rev. Burton came to the Miller Mercantile to look at some rings and Janet said right away, “We don’t have any on hand”. Just then Nels Miller, her husband, came and reminded her they had a large stock of rings and would be happy to show them to Rev. Burton. This upset her and right away she went to Mrs. Crumb’s house and told her that if she didn’t tell Rev. Burton she didn’t want to see him anymore, she would contact the ministry association that Rev. Burton belonged to and that he would be sent away from their town.
Later that day Rev. Burton came with a bouquet of flowers and the ring but found Anna (Mrs. Crumb) didn’t want anything to do with him (not telling him about Janet’s visit). He left very upset and that night sat outside on the church steps in a cold rain wondering what he had done to deserve losing his future happiness. That Sunday he was giving the sermon when he collapsed and was taken to his room. He had pneumonia and his condition was not great and the doctor said he needed someone to be responsible for him. That is when Anna walked in and said, “I’m here to help!” Just then Janet came to remind her of her previous visit with her and was shocked when Anna slammed the door in her face! No one in the room understood this action.
After Rev. Burton recovered, he was paid a visit from a head minister, Rev. Russell, who had received a letter from Janet explaining the actions of Rev. Burton—having Anna alone in his room for days and even at night (not saying it was to care for him when he was sick)! She wanted Burton moved on. Rev. Russell said he believed nothing had happened like what she had written but had to follow up on it anyway.
Rev. Russell went to the Miller Mercantile and told Janet he wanted to see her outside. He had a horse and buggy waiting and the two of them went down the road. They traveled on down the road until they reached a tree with some initials carved in it—JO and HR. It was then that he reminded her that it was 23 years ago that he had broken their engagement as he thought his church meant more to him. Had she found happiness in spite of what he had done? Yes, Nels was a good husband and she guessed she could forgive Rev. Russell for that broken engagement.
Then he asked her if she could confess to Rev. Burton that she was sorry for what she had done to his and Anna’s relationship. She did see Rev. Burton and admitted what she had done and that it was from her anger of 23 years that she didn’t want him to be happy. This was considered a ‘miracle’! Rev. Burton and Anna were married by Rev. Russell and sent off by the congregation throwing a lot of rice as the couple got into their horse drawn buggy that had tin cans tied on behind as well as a sign ‘Just Married”. This story could make some people today step outside of themselves and take a long look at others. December is a month of happiness for some while for others it is the season of depression. There are people who are alone but don’t want to show their loneliness. Perhaps they no longer have a spouse but have children that have families of their own who don’t see the loneliness of their parent. There are times when a good friend is much better to help with this loneliness than a family. Take time to see if there is anyone that is lonely that could be included in your activities this month. Don’t make it obvious and say, “I know you are lonely and I want to help you!” The lonely really don’t want to make it known they are lonely and have to depend on others.