This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Gift Giving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
So many times, we give material gifts to those around us. We select them with care and consideration. After we present the gifts, we have a sense of accomplishment and good feelings about our generosity. Those are really the easy gifts that we give. How many times do relatives, friends or neighbors need us to do something for them? Maybe someone needs a ride to the doctor or the grocery store. Some people may be lonely or troubled and just need someone to talk to. Others may need us to help with their daily activities since they are temporarily unable to do so themselves. How many times are we willing to give the gifts of our time and energy?
In August, 2005, my podiatrist performed extensive surgery on my right foot. I had no idea how debilitating post-surgery recovery would be. I couldn’t put any weight on the foot, not even on the heel of the cast. I used a walker and a wheelchair to get around my house. For the first week I couldn’t get out of bed. The pain was so severe I couldn’t even use the bathroom by myself.
My friend, Marianne, is a retired nurse. She took me to the surgical center for the surgery and then brought me home. Since I couldn’t use the bathroom by myself, she helped me with that task. She literally dressed me because I couldn’t do it myself while using the walker to hop around on my one good foot. When I was bedridden for that first week, she let herself into my house, brought me my newspaper from the driveway and made me some breakfast so I could take my medication. Then she sat with me so I had company and we talked about everything we could think of. She came back in the afternoon to check on me and visit with me once again. Then in the evening, she brought me dinner and visited some more. She didn’t leave until she was sure I was set for the night.
After I could use the walker to get from my bed to the wheelchair, she continued to check on me in the morning and bring me my newspaper since I could not get to the driveway. She also checked on me near dinnertime when she brought me delicious meals. She continued this for several weeks until I could wear a large shoe instead of the cast. During that time, she did my grocery shopping, picked up medications from the drugstore, washed my clothes and cleaned my house. She also brought me to my many doctor appointments. I will be forever grateful for her kindness.
Giving time and energy are priceless gifts and they only happen through sacrifice and generosity on our part. My friend gave me these kinds of gifts. These caring gestures truly bring feelings of pride, accomplishment, and satisfaction to our lives. How can we not feel good when we act on someone else’s behalf?
