"In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
When I was working, especially as a bedside nurse in maternity, often after a baby had been born I was thanked by the family. Often tearful, full of gratitude for the new life in their family, they would thank me over and over again. And my usual response was to tell them that it was a privilege to witness the birth of their baby and my pleasure to care for them during the process. I was only doing my job...
Fast forward to today. I have been retired for almost ten years (I cannot fathom this... but it's true, according to the calendar...) so it has been a long time since I have been on the receiving end of such grateful expressions. However, I have tried my best to help when I see a need, to be friendly and courteous to those I come in contact with. So occasionally someone thanks me and it feels good.
But as I age, more and more, I am finding I must ask for help from other people. I'm not used to that, and I am not comfortable with doing it much. It demands a change in my self image from the caregiver to the one being cared for. That makes me feel weak and old and I don't like it! And this Covid-19 pandemic has made me aware of how vulnerable I have become. I am officially in the "High Risk" group for contracting the disease, at least in terms of age. So we have quarantined ourselves in our mountain home.
We have been quarantined for 7 weeks now. In that time I have physically seen my husband, and a handful of neighbors from a distance. I have Zoomed and Facetimed with other friends and especially those grandkids, and it has helped some. I have been outside our neighborhood only twice. Once to pick up a prescription at the drugstore through the drive through window and once to get some fresh vegetables at our local farmers' market (which operated so differently with six feet markers, no touching the produce rules and a central pay desk that used a credit card reader... and we wore masks!) We have our groceries delivered by a local delivery service.
Today we put in another grocery order, expecting a delay of up to five days and discovering they could do it and deliver it within 2 hours... wow! I completed the list online and a young man named Graham got the list and shopped it, loaded it into his car and delivered it to us in way less time that we could have done it ourselves. There were a few items I had ordered that were not available, but all of the important stuff was obtained. Graham delivered it to our porch where we could gather it up, one item at a time, sanitize the item and bring it in the house. This process takes awhile but it keeps us a little safer.
So, as I put the last item away, I got to thinking about Graham, and how lucky we were that he was willing to risk his own health to help us stay protected. Armed with PPE and that sense of invincibility that comes with youth, Graham wound his way through the store picking the items I had ordered, scanning them, bagging them up, loading them into his car and driving it here. We tip generously, assuming Graham is one of those out of work folks just trying to survive during a very difficult time. There are also the workers at the store who unloaded the stuff from the trucks that delivered them and placed them on the shelves. There are the truck drivers who brought the items from their source. The workers at the plants where the items were manufactured or the farms where they were harvested. So many helpers just to bring us our food!
A sense of deep gratitude washed over me. Lanny and I are so blessed... we are healthy, happy together, comfortable in our home with plenty to eat. Health care is available should we need it. All because so many people are out there willing to help us should we need them. Today and every day, I send my deepest thanks.
"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance."
~Eckhart Tolle
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