[2022-05-22] Helping
Today, love looked like this: "Do you need anything? Charged portable batteries? Food? Drinks? A place to store your frozen food?"
I invited my sister over, as we had power while she did not. I offered a warm meal, a place to do laundry, and power to recharge her phone.
It reminded me of another time, almost 25 years ago, when I had hosted my sister, her husband and their two children. It was during the Great Ice Storm of 1998. Once again, we were lucky enough to have power when so many around us were without electricity. It was a memorable few days that the eight of us spent together. I still recall this time with fondness. Being helpful has always made me feel good.
As difficult as it can be to experience a major storm and to cope with its fallout, it is heartening to see all the help that is extended and accepted during times like these. That's what sticks in my mind when I think about the Great Ice Storm of 1998, the Northeast blackout of 2003 and the tornadoes of 2018.
Fred Rogers said it best when he commented on the helpers:
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.
I also like what Ralph Waldo Emerson stated about the benefit to the helper of giving:
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
And I like this quote (author unknown), which seems especially fitting in a disaster:
Look back and be grateful, look ahead and be hopeful, look around and be helpful.
Sometimes, we are the helpers; other times, we are the helped. It doesn't matter which role I find myself in because I am always grateful—grateful to be in a position to help someone else, and grateful to receive assistance.
