My Friend Ellen

My beautiful friend Ellen

I'm lucky enough to have a few people in my life that I admire greatly.  One of these is my friend Ellen, who is a widow, the mother of three, and a former Ward Relief Society President, who has a demanding, full-time job, and currently serves as the Whittier Stake Relief Society President.

Are you impressed yet?  Well, if not, you should be.  The women who serve in these church callings are not only outstanding people, they have an unbelievable amount of responsibilities in the everyday workings of the church.  They truly succor the needy and bless the lives of countless people on a regular basis.

I know.  I've served as a counselor in a Ward Relief Society presidency and seen up close and personal what the President does. My accomplished sister-in-law is currently serving as her Ward Relief Society President. She is always busy bringing meals to shut-ins and doing other charitable acts.  She's never home any more.  There's an amazing amount of need within any given Ward boundary.

Ellen is in charge of the women throughout the Whittier Stake of the church, which means she's over about ten Ward and Branch Relief Society Presidents.

It's a lot of work.

A quiet afternoon at Cafe Opa in Downey

I got to spend a quiet afternoon with Ellen recently.  She is a great lady and a lot of fun to spend time with.  Ellen has blessed my life in many ways throughout the past few years, and I enjoy her company very much.  She has a quiet strength that I wish I had.  She's also an accomplished seamstress, a talent I also wish I possessed.

We went out for Greek food!  We had Greek food by accident, actually, as the place we had intended to go for lunch was busy.  I mean REALLY busy!  I don't know about you, but when I see a line of 400 people, I tend to shy away.

Especially when I'm hungry.

So, we ended up at this little hole-in-the-wall I hadn't been to in years, called Cafe Opa.  They serve all kinds of Greek food, and I ordered a sandwich with chunks of pork in it.  Boy!  Was it good!

While I enjoy my own company, it only goes so far! I think that the older I get, the more I appreciate people taking the time out of their busy lives to simply spend time with me.  It's those little things that really do count in life.  

Recently, I've been lucky to have quite a few people in my life that will do that, and it's a great blessing.

Yours Truly enjoying her lunch

Thanks, Ellen!

OPA!