Pull Back the Veil

         
         My first year as a teacher, I had a wonderful assistant named Christy. She and I hit it off as soon as we met and became fast friends. But there was always something about Christy that struck a familiar, yet comforting cord with me that I couldn’t quite put my finger on...a look, a subtle gesture, some little something. I had no idea what it was or the profound effect it would have on me in the days to come!

A couple of weeks into the school year, while we were talking, Christy was giggling uncontrollably about something I had said, and she casually tossed her long, black hair over her shoulder with her hand. With that one simple gesture, a wave of recognition and then grief hit me …suddenly I wasn’t seeing Christy anymore…instead I was seeing my long, lost childhood friend…Vena.  In one brief moment with that simple little gesture, it was as if Vena’s bubbly, fun loving personality filled the room.

Like Christy, Vena had beautiful, thick, black hair, and she had a way of tossing it over her shoulder when she laughed. She had a unique little giggle that will forever remain etched in my memory. I stopped in mid sentence when I heard that giggle come from Christy! It left me speechless and brought me to tears. I could feel my chin begin to quiver…and before long, I knew I would be a sobbing mess!

I barely knew Christy, and I didn’t want her to think I was crazy! I didn’t know what else to do so I just shut down and turned my back on her so I could pull myself together. The resemblance was so strong; I couldn’t even look at her for a couple of days!  Of course, I knew it wasn’t Vena or anything weird like that…it’s just that I finally realized what I couldn’t put my finger on before…Vena and Christy were very much alike in many ways!  

Because Vena died a few years earlier, I was feeling the loss more strongly now that I had fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher, and knowing she never had the chance to fulfill hers. She had been on my mind constantly, and I was missing her more than usual! I finally told Christy how much she reminded me of my childhood friend …so much so that it was almost unsettling. And then I told her the story that I hadn’t shared with anyone else…I told her about my last day with my friend and how God had done the impossible…

Growing up, Vena and I were inseparable, and we always laughed and talked until our cheeks hurt. Our passion was Barbie dolls and we each had a collection of Barbies complete with pink wardrobe cases full of clothes that we shared and traded. Her family moved around quite a bit, but they always came back, and we happily picked up right where we left off, as if she had never left. But as we grew up and went our separate ways as young adults, we lost contact… until I received a phone call some 16 years later.

My mother called one day to tell me that Vena had undergone radical brain surgery to remove a large tumor and was now a permanent resident in a nursing home somewhere in Dallas. The implications of a 33 year old woman needing to live in a nursing home after brain surgery were unfathomable.

Although it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, knowing that she was SOMEWHERE in Dallas gave me hope. But this was an impossible task and I needed a miracle if I was going to find her. Two of my favorite scriptures came to mind, Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know.” and Mark 10:27 “All things are possible with God.” So I dried my tears, presented myself before His Throne of Grace and called on MY GOD to help me find my friend. I was depending on Him to make the impossible possible!

Armed with the Dallas Yellow Pages, which were at least 4 inches thick, I immediately began my tedious search by calling nursing homes, one by one and page by page. I had very little to go on, but I repeated the same story call after call…  “I just learned that my childhood friend is in a nursing home somewhere here in the Dallas area, and I am trying to find her. Her name is Vena and, she is a she’s 33 year old Native American woman with severe brain trauma. Do you have a patient that fits this description?”

Most responses were sympathetic and simply said no we don’t have any patients that young. Others were very discouraging. I was told that since I was not family, they could not give me any information without knowing her social security number and date of birth. But I did not give up! I continued calling. Then one day about two weeks into my search, someone suggested that I contact the Indian Tribal Council… I did and within minutes, I received a call from one of Vena’s sisters! As it turned out, Vena was just 25 miles down the road from where I lived!

The next day, with my husband and our 3-year-old daughter at my side, I stood at the nurse’s desk and was informed that Vena would be unresponsive and she wouldn’t even know that I was there. Tears began to sting my eyes as images of us sitting under the shade tree in my front yard played in my mind. Gone were the carefree days of sipping ice cold Coka Cola and playing Barbie dolls on hot summer days.

With our daughter on his hip, my husband and I walked down the long corridor. We passed elderly patients watching television, sleeping or rolling along in wheel chairs. It saddened me to know that despite her young age, Vena could no longer do any of those things.  As we neared her room, I thanked for God hearing my prayer and for making a way out of no way! Despite all the obstacles and lack of information, He led me straight to her!

As we stood outside her door, I prepared myself for what I was about to see. Right before I stepped into her room, I heard “Pull back the veil" in the now familiar still, small voice. I laughed to myself as I thought, “What a strange thing to say…but okay.”  I looked straight at my husband as I prayed, “Lord, I don’t know what it means but, please pull back the veil.”

My husband stood and watched from the doorway with our daughter. As I walked into the room, Vena was sitting in a wheel chair in the middle of the room. As I knelt in front of her, I began to search her face, but the beautiful, vibrant girl I once knew was not there. I did not recognize this poor woman. Her once long, beautiful, black hair was mostly gone. Her head was misshapen and scared from the surgery that took away her memories and cognitive abilities.

But I wasn’t here to pity and gawk at some poor unfortunate stranger. This was my long, lost childhood friend. We had a lot of catching up to do. So I began talking to her and I told her all the things I had saved in my heart over the years. I touched her arm in that familiar way friends do as I talked to her. I noticed her hands were a little dry and seeing a bottle of hand lotion on her night stand, I grabbed it and began to rub lotion onto her hands as I told her how the Lord had helped me find her.

Her head was tilted to one side and her eyes were half open, but they were dull and lifeless. I kept talking… hoping that she could hear my voice and for at least a little while forget where she was. At some point, my conversation turned into prayer. I watched my friend’s face as I prayed, and the words from an old hymn came to mind, “…like a bird from these prison walls I’ll fly… I’ll fly away” and I prayed, “Lord have mercy on this little bird, release her from her prison walls and let her fly away to glory. Help her to mount up on eagles’ wings and fly away from this misery. Let her not linger here shackled to this body. Let her spirit fly home to be with you.”

As I was praying, I saw tears welling up in her eyes and I watched the tears as they slowly rolled down her cheeks, as if the words had touched her. I was hoping it meant that her spirit could hear me so I closed my eyes and continued to pray. At one point I opened my eyes and looked at her and to my surprise, she had the sweetest expression on her face. Her eyes had a glimmer of life in them…they were no longer dull! I was content with that. I felt that at least I had touched her spirit enough that it put a sparkle in her eyes. But then… she very softly spoke my name! I was stunned into silence. I stared at her in shock but then quickly dismissed it. I convinced myself that I heard her speak only because I want it so badly. And then… she spoke again very slowly and softly and this time I saw her lips move! She said, “I like your jacket.” With a little stronger voice, she then asked, "Where is Nita & Patty?" and “Do you still have our Barbies?”

By this time, I had tears streaming down my face and I could hardly speak! Then I remembered the words “Pull back the veil” and now… I had full understanding of their meaning! After a little bit, I could sense her spirit fading, so I asked her if she knew Jesus and she very slowly nodded her head. I went ahead and prayed the sinners’ prayer for her and then I began to thank the Lord for pulling back the veil. He not only helped me find her, he also brought us back together one last time and gave her the ability to speak! We picked up right where we left off, just like when we were little girls! By the time I said “Amen”, she had disappeared behind the veil again. I held her hands and cried as I sat there with her for a little while longer, and there was an overwhelming sense of peace in the room that hadn’t been there when I came in.

Before leaving the nursing home, I told the staff that she had spoken and they of course didn’t believe me. I said, “Well, whether you believe me or not, and whether she did or she didn’t, you need to speak to her, care for her and handle her as if she can.” I learned later that my best friend passed away a few weeks after our visit. Vena and I always had a strong heart connection and I truly believe that she had been asking God to help me find her, and I believe she waited for me so that we could have our last goodbye.

After I told Christy the story about Vena and how much she reminded me of her, we grew even closer. Christy became the friend and companion Vena would have been if she had lived. We developed the same heart connection that Vena and I had…the kind that time, distance and death cannot break.

                                            Prayer

Father God, thank you for being a waymaker. Your Word says,"Seek and you shall find. Call to me and I will listen. Pray to me and I will answer you." Father God, all things are possible with you. You go above and beyond anything we can ask or think. Father God, I lift up the reader at this moment, and I pray that this testimony will be a inspiration. I pray that my humble words will encourage the reader to trust you to make a way out of no way. My Lord, My God, I know without a shadow of doubt that you can do anything but fail! Father God, let your will be done in this reader's life today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!