She offered to wash my hair!

In the dark, scary hour that left me with a total-loss vehicle, numerous physical injuries and a broken spirit, my friend Margaret came to the rescue. Her superpower is compassion and caring. She lent my husband a vehicle so he could take the kids to the orchestra. She brought over dinner and reading material to keep me comfortable. She checked on me every day and she even offered to wash my hair.

That was huge because the collision was on Thursday afternoon and by Sunday, I desperately needed it. I’d lost my mobility, and she offered to wash my hair.

I can’t count how many doctor appointments I had, but I never had to worry about transportation because friends with cars came to my rescue. For two months, people had to drive me everywhere I went. To school. To the ortho. To physical therapy. To church. To counseling. To the treating doctor. Back to ortho. I’d lost my freedom, but I had friends. Lots of friends. Friends with the super power of comfort and caring. Sometimes they even delivered food when they’d pick me up. Friends with food. Comfort food. And some friends came by just to visit. I’d lost my freedom, all right, but when I couldn’t go to them, they came to me.

By the end of May, the trauma set in pretty badly and I knew I couldn’t be an effective counselor at that point, so I took a medical leave. To heal. And rest. And restore. Again friends (and family!) helped out. My sister spent a week with me, as did my Dad and his wife. Their visit was medicinal in ways I can’t explain. And many people used their super powers of affirmation and encouragement cheer me and lift my spirits.

From little on, I was taught that it’s better to give than to receive, and for the most part, I believe that to be true. But learning to receive,
gracefully,
graciously,
gratefully,
that’s been a gift that’ll likely keep on giving indefinitely, a present I first opened on January 13th when Margaret offered to wash my hair. – Barbara 🙂