Thursday, May 7, 2020
Carol and Tom Gruen
Where do you see God’s love at work in the world?
While the disruption from Covid-19 has taken many things from us, it also has allowed us to uncover blessings that may have been lost to us. There are so many different ways that people are learning to give gifts, expressing their love, care, and concern differently, and as a result, we feel the love and care differently. It has given us a pause in life, enough empty space to fully sense that we are part of a greater community, past and present. We see the way people come together to make celebrations happen in ways that we could not have expressed previously.
It has provided us time to sort through memories and reach out to those who have made a difference in our lives. We received an unexpected blessing recently via an email.
More than 25 years ago, we were living in Bloomington, Indiana, while Tom was working his doctorate at Indiana University, we were searching for a piano teacher among the many ultra-talented students at the IU School of Music, for our boys then 6 and 4 years old. We don’t exactly remember how we found Renee, but over time, she became more embedded in our family, teaching piano, babysitting our boys, and sharing occasional meals with us. Soon after graduation, she got married, and the last time we saw her, the newlyweds were leaving for New York City for Renee to ply her piano trade and for Luke to start art school.
Fast forward 25 years to last night, when an email shows up in Carol’s in-box, subject line: “Friend from IU days.” It begins, “For some reason you have been on my mind recently….” She reached out, and in so doing gave us a gift that connected today to the many years ago. Thank you, Renee for reaching out. Our tank was filled with not only the remembrance of the past, but in connecting then to the now. We were also blessed to find Renee’s music. Renee’s story in music is embedded in this amazing song, another gift to us that we want to share with you:
Let’s look at one another, turn distracted eyes to see
The shining souls beside us, disguised in normalcy
Exchange our busy schemes, for simple gifts which beckon quietly
Let’s look at one another, only empty hands receive.
Renee Heckman Allsbrook - https://youtu.be/wzvTugrCjQE.
For how art school turned out for Luke, check out https://youtu.be/dUHXjMcJgO8.