Better Than Mom

Better Than Mom

 

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . .”  Jeremiah 1:5 Before I created Mary Preszchuk  for Baggage burdens., I already knew her as a dynamic person that Jill could never leave her.

Mary has to be everything that Jill needs. An employer and landlord is minimum. Jill also needs a caring friend who knows, understands, and loves people. Unexpectedly Mary becomes more like a mother to Jill.

Mary’s self-confident out going spirit appears when she welcomes Jill in front of her bakery. Mary ignores Jill’s anticipated handshake. She hugs Jill.

 A home atmosphere partly explains Mary’s bakery’s success. Mary builds personal relationships with her customers by learning about their history.  When Mary adopts the same strategy with Jill, she quickly learns Jill is a very private person. Mary respects that. Acting as a social encyclopedia, Mary provides Jill with background on her patrons. Jill sees smiles on the bakery's patrons when Mary recognizes them as individuals. Jill learns Mary’s skills of eavesdropping on tables’ conversations and asking delicate questions.

Jill has major issues with trust. Mary doesn’t. Like a mother Mary models trusting people. She shares with Jill a past personal indiscretion, one that explains why Mary has no children, one that only she and her husband know. From Mary Jill learns about love and its importance in a trusting relationship.

Jill experiences unconditional love when Mary learns that Jill intends to marry Joseph.  Mary’s joy is genuine, even though it means Jill won’t take over her bakery some day. The hope that Jill would marry her nephew, Ben also disappears. Mary supports Jill’s decision and acts as her Matron of Honor.

 Jill, moving out to the farm, drastically reduces the time that she and Mary spend together.  Still their friendship remains strong. Jill frequently turns to Mary for advice. Joseph recognizes Mary’s affect on his wife. He too calls on Mary when Jill loses her baby even though she has moved to Edmonton.

Has anyone had an effect on you like Mary does on Jill? How did such a relationship develop?

Daniel, Jill and Joseph’s first child, plays many important roles in Baggage burdens. The next blog explores one of those roles.