The other day one of brothers posted this on Facebook, “You have never really lived, until you have done something for someone who can never repay you! Come on People, let’s start living!” I replied to him, “Then you have REALLY lived, my beloved brother because you’ve done things for me for which I can never repay you.”
I’ve thought a lot about what he wrote and realized again how many times I’ve been on the receiving end of such wonderful blessings that I cannot repay. It was that same brother who flew out last September to drive me and my dog and a few belongings from my home in California halfway across the country to Indiana, where I dropped him off (at his home) before continuing the last 600 miles to my new home here in Maryland. Together he and I rode over 2000 miles together, him doing most of the driving, buying all the gas and food, and footing the hotel bills along the way. Every time I tried to pull out cash, he waved me away. When I thanked my sister-in-law for booking the hotel rooms she’d replied, “It’s the least we could do.” I remember shaking my head, thinking, They are doing me such a huge favor, helping me and sacrificing for me and it’s the least they can do?
In fall of 2011, some months after I’d lost my job and had to move out of my home when my relationship ended, I went to the mailbox and found an envelope in the mail with my friend Pat’s return address on it. Hmmmm, I wondered at it. It was unusual for Pat to mail me anything. When I opened it, it contained a check for $1,000. I was stunned. Pat and I had been best friends for over 30 years and while we’d done a variety of favors for one another over that time, it had never involved money. Pat had known that I was struggling financially and with a little finagling of her own finances found the funds to help me through a particularly trying time. When I called her to ask her what had gotten into her (after I’d pulled myself together enough to be able to speak), I could almost hear her shrug as if to say, “It’s what we do. It’s only money.” She too, according to my brother’s Facebook statement must be really living as well.
I was unemployed or underemployed for some 18 months, and in that time many people–especially my family and friends all “really lived” as they rallied around me offering support, assistance, encouragement and strength which I can never repay. My friend Mary and her family helped me in more ways than I can count and my pal Roland took me to lunch every few weeks and never let me pay for it. Even now my siblings are the angels around me who keep me going in more ways than I can count and in ways that I can only hope to someday repay. It’s a good thing that none of us keep score.
In the past few days I’ve connected in person or by phone with four of my five siblings, both of my children, and my ex-husband whom I consider a close friend. Each of these interactions bless me in ways I can’t count. There is no greater gift than I can imagine than the love of family and friends. I am grateful beyond measure for the bonds of love that connect us one to another. There’s simply nothing better than that.
