Accepting Help in the Storm

It had been another day filled with appointments and caring for my family members. My sister’s surgery required that we rotate and clean around the six pins that were attached to a metal rod inside her femur, from her patella to her hipbone. My father’s wounds in both legs needed bandage changes, and he couldn’t walk around the house. With her arm in a sling due to a healing rotator cuff, Mom needed assistance getting dressed, showering and feeding herself.

It was the perfect storm, this trifecta.

Dishes were piled in the sink and on counters. My siblings needed transportation from school. Dinner was unplanned. And me? I still had assignments to finish for my coursework. Friends had offered assistance, but I’d managed mostly alone.

A classmate, Marianne, had told me to call anytime, so I did.

“How are you doing with everything?” she asked.

“There’s so much to do…and so much I can’t even finish.” I paused and then dove into telling her everything I had left to do for the day.

Marianne listened patiently. When I finished, she immediately offered to pick up my siblings and get dinner so I could tend to my coursework. I was surprised and grateful. I resolved then to accept these gifts of help more often in the future. What a relief!