“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadows . . ” – Psalm 23: 4
There is such beauty in this photo that Tim took on our hike on the Fifth Falls Trail in Gooseberry State Park. It was late in the day when we went so there was no one else on the trail. That time of day the sunlight casts such warm shadows. The dark and the light almost seem to dance together while the cedar trees and river stand watch.
Life too contains both shadow and light. We walk through it all finding fear and faith along the way. As I thought about this I was reminded of Helva Paschke. Actually you never thought about Helva without also remembering her husband Harold too. They were married for over 64 years. A partnership that saw them through shadows and light, good and hard times.
Together they owned the Lincoln Hotel in downtown Duluth for 16 years. Helva ran the kitchen and dining room. The hotel had a reputation for being a fine place to eat. Families loved to come, because of their Kids’ Birthday Club. If children came on their birthday they got a free meal, including a cake and a crown. Best of all, they got to pick a present from a beautiful trunk; a treasure that came over with Helva’s family from Finland. Over 1,200 children participated in the birthday club and Life magazine did a story about it.
After selling the Hotel, Harold tried his hand at a car wash. This was truly a wash. They lost all the money they had made from the hotel on it. Luckily they got a loan and bought the Surf and Sand Nursing Home down on Park Point. They lived in the upstairs of the nursing home. This meant they knew all their residents really well. They managed the nursing home for 11 years before retiring. Their retirement was filled with lots of traveling, including trips into the Boundary Water’s Canoe Area. Tim and I borrowed their canoe once, it was so fun to hear about all the lakes their canoe had paddled on.
Helva was with Harold when he died. She told me she didn’t fear death because she had temporarily died back in 2000. Her heart had stopped but they were able to revive her. She remembered a truly peaceful feeling had come over her at that time.
Staff from her nursing home called me to go be with Helva in the emergency room the day she really died. She said to me, “This looks to be the end, but I am not afraid. I trust in the Lord.” I held her hand for a long time. After awhile, we recited the 23rd Psalm together, “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.” We paused in the middle, “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. “
We will walk through light and shadows, valleys and mountains but we are not alone. Helva had lived all those moments in her life. Yet, she trusted in the One who was with her, carrying her on all the way to the end of her life and to the end of the psalm, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” May we too find the beauty in the dance of shadow and light as we make our way home.
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