Apolonia...

Onto another dear person that inspired and moved me deeply...

After leaving the Mission in April,
I was blessed to have a trusted friend from San Lucas
take me around and introduce me to the majority of the elderly in need.
I wanted to be faithful to what the Lord was placing in my heart-
to love Him in the most abandoned and forgotten.

Within 5 weeks, we were able to visit 80 elderly people.
It was such a blessing and a joy to meet them and walk into their homes and lives!
To see their joy, their strength, their simplicity, their gratefulness, their humility...
and to my surprise, of the 80 we visited-
only 1 of them suffered from dementia.
All of these people were in their late 70's, 80's, and even late 90's...
and all of them were completely coherent and oriented.

So the first person we visited was Apolonia,
affectionately known here in San Lucas as "Doña Petrona"...

Apolonia was born with deformed feet (as you can see in the video below)
and due to her circumstances,
she never went to school,
she never got married or had a family.
She has been passed from relative to relative
and is currently living in a small room by herself.

Apolonia has some family who visit her weekly
and she has a neighbor friend who brings her firewood...
but on average, she is alone all day long.

When she gets tired of the loneliness,
and when she it hurts too bad to walk,
Apolonia drags herself out to the street so she can watch people walk by
and hopefully pass some time...



I cried the first time I saw how she moves around...this woman is 76 years old!

Thankfully, there will be a friend bringing wheelchairs
and I look forward to giving one to Apolonia.
With little mobility, her entire world as of right now is a small cinderblock room,
a dirt path and a street next to the cemetery.

When I first met Apolonia, she commented that she would like a new bed
(she was previously using 2 sawhorses as headboards,
3 wooden tablets in between as the box spring,
and a blanket to serve as a mattress)...

We were able to make Apolonia a small bed frame
and give her an actual mattress (which is very rare in San Lucas!).
She was very grateful and (I'm sure) sleeps much better at night :)

Luckily, Apolonia has a niece who is kind enough
to check up on her every day and bring her some food,
and even carry her back to her room if need be:

Hopefully you can join me in taking the time to love a forgotten soul...

but someone who is undoubtedly loved and remembered by the Lord.