Quandary
Someone I know, and to whom I will never again speak is going through a family crisis. I want to do something, help, apologize, be a shoulder, and a family friend. I want to bring non-hospital food, do laundry, scrub bathtubs and draw baths. I want to insist on sleep, on self-care even in the face of this emergency. I hope someone is doing all those things. I hope the family remembers that this is out of their hands, and that no bullying anyone will make it go away. I hope they realize that the person in limbo at this very moment will be dreaming of them, at their best, and be forgetting them at their worst.
I want to be the anonymous voice of mercy that says "I hope he recovers quickly and fully or is given a peaceful respite."
Because I can't or won't expose myself to this person and their toxicity, I won't - and, yes, this makes me feel terribly selfish. I hope the rest of the family is sheltered from the worst outbursts and hurtfulness, and are given the dignity of worrying, grieving, and holding their breath in quiet and peace.I hope the food, book, and flower bringers, launderers, bath attendants, and shoulders to cry on understand how very precious their help is, and how very real their comfort is, even if the recipients are too numb to express this fact. And I hope they won't feel badly when they cannot call up the words to express it if it does come to mind, or feel obligated to do so.
I'm praying in my own little way for wholeness and tenderness, for doctors that are caring, cells that are healing, and hearts that are not too heavy to bear.
<3 Denise
I want to be the anonymous voice of mercy that says "I hope he recovers quickly and fully or is given a peaceful respite."
Because I can't or won't expose myself to this person and their toxicity, I won't - and, yes, this makes me feel terribly selfish. I hope the rest of the family is sheltered from the worst outbursts and hurtfulness, and are given the dignity of worrying, grieving, and holding their breath in quiet and peace.I hope the food, book, and flower bringers, launderers, bath attendants, and shoulders to cry on understand how very precious their help is, and how very real their comfort is, even if the recipients are too numb to express this fact. And I hope they won't feel badly when they cannot call up the words to express it if it does come to mind, or feel obligated to do so.
I'm praying in my own little way for wholeness and tenderness, for doctors that are caring, cells that are healing, and hearts that are not too heavy to bear.
<3 Denise