Thursday, March 13, 2008

What Helps

So on and on I've been going about what hurts. Blah, blah, blah, right. Everybody's got stuff going on, and I don't know about you, but I'm sick of hearing me whine. I was starting to give myself a headache.

So, risking the wrath of the deities, I will change course now.

Let me tell you what helps.

Love helps. Today a beautiful woman brought me a heart on a ribbon, and the heart says, "Be Strong." I am taking it with me to the doctor tomorrow.

Emails help. My inbox overflowed with love last week, and the senders all acted as if they ought to send more. More than love? Never heard of such a thing.

Chocolate cake helps, and we must have had five kinds at lunch today. I grabbed a shovel.

Retail therapy helps. For a minimalist, anti-commercial kind of gal with limited resources, it shocked me to get a buzz buying a new knife block at Target when I really went there to get staples. You know the slippery slope; next I got giddy at Amazon.com and then splurged on a slipcover that cost more than the second-hand chair I've been meaning to spruce up for years.

Help helps. A dear friend came over yesterday and played with my children for a while, and I got a much needed respite. I even got to cover that chair.

Laughing helps. (Someone, please send jokes. I have not been laughing enough.)

Hugs help. I collected them all day today.

Work helps. Bury me in a research project and for a while I forget to fill every nook and cranny of time with worry.

Calls help. My mom called today to say, "So you find another school. Some people right now are trying to find a transplant or a transfusion or a ..." You get the picture. I like to hear my mom say, "So what?" It always means love. "So what?" she said today. "He is ours and we love him." And love helps most of all.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen sister. Love is what it's all about!

PBear said...

Your mom is right - he's yours and you love him. And in his own way, he loves you too. And with that (and plenty of chocolate), you can get through anything.

Joeymom said...

So there is this guy in a convertible driving behind this big truck full of pigs going down the road, and a pig falls off the truck. The guy pulls over, put the pig in his car, then tears off after the truck. A police officer pulls him over and as he is handing the guy the speeding ticket, he sees the pig.

"Sir," the officer raises an eyebrow, "why do you have a pig in your car?"

So the man explains about the truck and the mishap. "Now I was driving to try to catch up with the truck and give the farmer back his pig."

The officer, seeing this man is really a good samaritan, tears up the ticket and sighs, "Sir, that truck is long gone. You'd better just take that pig to the zoo." They agree, and the man drives away.

Next day, the police officer sees the same car drive by with umbrellas and surf boards and whatnot tucked in the back seat, and the pig buckled in the front. The officer pulls the driver over and exclaims, "Sir, I thought I told you to take that pig to the zoo!"

"Of yes, sir, officer, sir," the man replies, "and we had such a wonderful time at the zoo, we're going to the beach today!"

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on the chocolate cake and the retail therapy. And mom's always know best--mine does the same. I'll never forget her telling me, "If he can't go to this school, we'll find another one. We'll do whatever it takes." Just hearing that "we" made everything better, like it wasn't just on my shoulders.

Niksmom said...

So glad that the love we are sending is being received and put to good use. :-) Amen for chocolate and retail therapy...and moms! I think I'd be lost w/out mine who lives six doors down the street.