Catching up with Rainy

A little over six months ago, 220,000 people were killed and 1 million left homeless by the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti.

Three months later, I worked with a Portland woman who was part of a 10-person team of medical professionals to tell the story of her week-long stint as a volunteer with Troy Marshall Ministries, an international Christian organization.

And three months after that, I finally met the author of the piece -- Rainy Ostrom, a dialysis nurse with a kind disposition and more than a few things in common with our family.

One of the best things about my job as Sunday Opinion editor is that I get to work with a great variety of writers from week to week -- both staff reporters and columnists and freelancers of varying experience and ability. Occasionally, there's a good reason to meet with a freelancer for coffee during the reporting and writing process. Less frequently comes an opportunity to meet after a piece has been published. Such was the case on Monday afternoon when I finally met Rainy for lunch at a Southeast Portland restaurant.

We'd been trying to get together ever since her article, a lovely piece of writing titled "Resilience beneath the rubble," appeared in mid-April.

What triggered the interest?

I couldn't help but ask about her name. Rainy, she said, was short for Lorraine. Well, that was a coincidence. My Lori is also named Lorraine (though only her closest relatives call her that) and as a young girl she went by Rainey (with an -ey).

And when I asked, politely, about her age, it turns out Rainy is 57 -- exactly the same age as Lori and me. We tried for weeks to try to coordinate our three calendars to get together for coffee but somehow it proved impossible. Last weekend, I made another pitch. Lori (er, Rainey) couldn't join us but Rainy and I managed to finally get together.

How did it go?

We had a pleasant conversation during which she asked just as many questions (without being intrusive) as I did of her. Turns out that Haiti was the third international relief trip she's made (the others being Uganda and Scotland); she was born in McMinnville (just like our younger son); and she's lived all over the United States, owing to her father being a church pastor who served in various rural communities.

As a committed Christian whose children were educated in a home schooling co-op, she chipped in by teaching whatever subjects needed to be taught, including music, science and Bible studies. I, on the other hand, attended public schools all my life -- from kindergarten through college -- and have maintained a healthy skepticism of organized religion after falling away from the Catholic Church as a teenager.

As a younger man I probably would have let such differences get in the way. These days, I respect them. I find myself drawn to such differences as a way of bridging personal interests, learning from others' experiences and keeping my mind open to the possibility of new insights, even change.

In this case, having finally met Rainy, the words she wrote those many weeks ago resonate with greater meaning because it's obvious they are an expression of her faith and a call to serve.

"Surprisingly, it is a plant that taps the well of my tears. As we drive from place to place, one emotional impact layers upon another. I look up to see a bougainvillea blooming brightly. It is surrounded by white rubble halfway up. But its roots go down deep, tapping pure water. Its vibrant green reaches toward the sun, and its pink is vivid. Its way of life, its source of life has not changed. It has not been shaken. The incongruity of its vitality among ruin, uncovers the emotion within me. My tears fall, and they do not stop. No one else in the van is crying. I turn my head to face the window, and allow myself to feel what I'm feeling."

Want to read more? Go back up and click on the link to her piece.

To see Rainy's photos from Haiti, click here and look at the first 13 images. (Ignore the name of the photo editor who posted the pictures.)

Photo of Haitian schoolgirls praying before class at a school set up in UNICEF tents in Port-au-Prince, by Ramon Espinosa, The Associated Press.