Added Value

I want to show you a piece of stained glass we own. My favorite part is the little frog at the bottom.This hangs in one of our bathrooms and keeps my elderly neighbor from seeing my ta-ta’s after dark. It’s also a beautiful addition to our home. I look at this artwork several times a day. Please ignore the wrinkled curtain. I decided a few years ago I’m not ironing curtains any more, and it shows. We bought the glass at a fundraiser at church a few years ago, and I’m glad we did. We paid more for it than I wanted to. Hubby fell in love with it and wanted to keep bidding when the auction price went above the limit we had set prior to the bidding. Being the tightwad in the family, I stood firm. He overrode me, won the bidding and carefully brought it home where we spent quite some time figuring out where to hang it. I don’t remember now how much we paid for the stained glass, but I’m glad we bought it because its value has increased greatly since then. That’s because we got to know the artist.

Delmar was a man who attended our church. We didn’t know him but learned at the auction that he made all kinds of stained glass and carpentry projects. His work was outstanding, as he paid particular attention to detail, like the little frog in our piece. At the auction they also sold a toy truck he made out of a beautiful piece of wood. It was sanded and lacquered to perfection. When you looked closely at his work you didn’t find a single flaw. Hubby struck up a conversation with him and discovered that he was a very interesting fellow. Quiet, but fascinating. His skills were many, but he was very modest about them. He wanted no praise for his work, didn’t seek attention and was a fountain of information. He was paralyzed from the waist down and sat in a wheelchair, but neither one of us ever had the nerve to ask him how he got that way. It was obvious the wheelchair wasn’t an issue for him. It didn’t stop him from driving, holding leadership positions or doing the things he loved. Whatever trials he had with his paralysis were private, and it was obvious he didn’t want to focus on them. He was truly a unique person.

Over time, Hubby got to know Delmar better. The Methodist Men’s group at our church builds wheelchair ramps for people in our community. Hubby helps them sometimes. In fact, he worked on a ramp today. Delmar was always there, using the tray on his wheelchair or any other method he could find to complete his work. Working with Delmar has always been one of Hubby’s favorite things about working on the ramps because of Delmar’s skill and attitude toward life and church.

Delmar died last week. Cancer claimed him, but God claimed him first, so I’m sure he’s had the ultimate healing by now. We will miss his smiling face at church, but I take from him a great lesson in handling life’s difficulties and working with what you have. His paralysis created no boundaries for him, and he made the world a better place just by being in it. He was a very special person, and I’m proud his artwork is hanging in my house. For us, that piece of stained glass is now priceless.