GIFTED

Gifted

Tulip went on a journey one very rainy Monday morning to deliver seasonal gifts to people in the City of Burnaby. The first stop was just a drop off at a back door and the next was a visit to the home of a 93 year old lady. They had first met four decades ago.

The lady had been tipped off that a visitor was coming so she made a concerted effort to spruce up her hair, and wear a sparkly seasonal sweater and newer looking black leggings. She even applied some lipstick.

As Tulip walked up the hilly driveway, she noticed the house was the very same blue colour as always. The grass was nicely cut and the landscape trimmed. She could see a short little grey headed, smiling person standing slightly away from the front kitchen window, waving. It was Gretel.

Gretel is a victim of atrocities during the Hitler era in Germany. She managed to escape, get well educated and immigrated to Canada as an adult. She used to be a biophysics professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. 

Since Tulip was a student there in the late 1970s, Gretel invited her to a fourth year Biophysics class. The subject matter was a way over any of the curriculum of her familiar humanities group of classes, and she felt very out of her league. 

Nevertheless, out of respect, she sat through the entire thirty minute lecture and listened to her brain struggle hard to pay attention. It was an unusual, surreal experience. The temples on each side of her head were beating faster than her heart. 

Afterwords they sat in Gretel’s small faculty office packed with floor to ceiling books and papers, to review the lecture and discuss the research pertaining to the measuring of light years. The experience was mentally painful. Gretel was patient and kind; she expressed appreciation that Tulip stuck it out, and noticed that she was paying attention. 

“Paying attention is key to living well,” she said.

Tulip was happy to walk out of that science pavilion, stress headache and all, and back to the comfort of the Humanities’ wing of the University, never to return!

They did, however, continue to interact on occasion at political meetings that were held at the house she shared with politically active people. Gretel was not interested in partaking because she was a scientist not a politician — thereby favouring the intellectual challenge of New York Times crossword puzzle over what was offered! The two would share quality moments together before and after those meetings.

Eventually Tulip moved to central Canada to pursue other interests, returning home during December to do the family and friend Christmas festivities. Visiting with Gretel became an annual tradition and continued for many subsequent years.

The COVID ERA changed lives and routines, and the visits with Gretel took a hiatus until this year. Tulip stood at the side of the house and waited for the door to open. She was greeted by a lovely hug, and invited to sit in one of two chairs cleared for the occasion. It was a back to the future moment.

She glanced at the kitchen table and had flashbacks of the university office experience. The table was stacked with tons and tons of yellowing newspapers, old and new magazines and books of every scientific kind.  Had Gretel become a hoarder or had she always been one? 

When Tulip asked her why she was collecting so much printed stuff, the reply had nothing to do with content. She said they make her feel she is not alone. A bare table makes her feel lonely. An empty chair makes her feel lonely as does an empty room. Tulip looked forward to not seeing the rest of the two story, three bedroom house, and especially not the basement rumpus room where the political meetings had been held. All she could imagine is more and more piles of floor to ceiling academic books, covering each and every spot.

Gretel asked many quasi personal and very personal questions, and made many comments, often bluntly, seemingly without compassion — as a scientist would. She even branched out into the more humane aspects of human life like family, friends, excursions, projects and plans, showing genuine interest in the answers.

At that moment Tulip realized that although the many singled out parts of Gretel are particular and unique personality traits and life experiences, the lady herself is much more than the sum of her parts. She is a very brave woman, a survivor, an intellectual, a loving, interesting, caring, independent, content woman, and as spry now as she was four decades ago.

This was a delightful visit with a delightful healthy nonagenarian, with all her faculties still in place. Despite her deep passion about science and everlasting pride in her research and findings in a very precise and unique field, it was not beneath her to connect with a free spirit named Tulip, four decades ago, to challenge her, encourage her and guide her through her thinking, decision making and problem solving. 

Before bidding farewell with a soft kiss on the cheek and a gentle hug, Gretel said this: 

“Remember what I have always told you about life and life choices, as long as you follow the steps of any basic science experiment identifying “problem”, “analysis”, “options”, “observation”, and “conclusion” — no matter how difficult the challenge in front of you might be, you will find a  solution. The solution might not be immediate, and it might not be obvious, but with faith, focus and determination, following those steps, you will find the missing answer.”

With that, the door closed. Tulip walked down the driveway to her car, turned and waved to the incredible lady in the window, as tears of happiness trickled down her cheek, feeling so darn gifted because of people like Gretel who are like angels who drop in now and then, and stick around for all the right reasons.