In my 42 years, there have been so many times that people have helped me! I could probably fill a book with stories.
But I’ll pick just one.
When I was pregnant (and sick!) with Sonia, I was struggling to keep up with housework + 2 kids + trying to keep teaching piano (a necessary thing financially). Mr. FG was working long days at the time, so he was a little overwhelmed too.
My younger brother was taking community college classes at the time, and most Fridays after his classes, he would come by our townhouse to visit and help.
He did things I couldn’t stomach, like cleaning bad food out of the fridge, did general cleaning, read books to my kids, and even helped organize papers.
And sometimes he would bring me a bagel, which was inoffensive enough for me to stomach even while pregnant.
He really was the perfect help for me; he was a familiar presence, had a similar cleaning/organizing method (due to us being from the same family), and my kids knew and loved him.
Having some fresh company helped to distract me from my physical misery too; I looked forward to those visits!
I don’t think many people have an 18-year old brother who would:
a) be willing to come over to help a pregnant sister
and
b) be actually competent at helping!
So this was a seriously unusual mercy and I feel touched at the memory, even 17 years later.
Tell me about a time someone helped you!
P.S. I always think one nice thing about pregnancy sickness is that it’s not contagious. So often when you are sick with regular illness, people can’t come help you because they might get sick too.
But there is no such issue with pregnancy; people can help, worry-free!
Mine is also pregnancy related. I also was severely sick. My mom would come over and help with the kids and chores. But the thing that stands out was that she would massage my feet. It was literally the OZlY 15 minutes in the day that I wouldn’t feel like vomiting. She couldn’t come every day but it was often and much appreciated. I think it was the pressure points maybe? It really stands out because I was so depressed and was supposed to be in the hospital but refused to be. It would lift my spirits and get my though another day. She would give me words of encouragement happy thoughts about the baby to come and then day a prayer.
This made me think back to your recent post about helping your aunt with her twins! It feels very…pay it forward-y, or something. Anyway, this is so sweet. What a group of good people you and your family are.
When we found out that our infant son was profoundly deaf my husband’s aunt showed up at our door crying and offered to come every Monday morning. She stayed with our 2 and 4 year old daughters so I could take Dan to school to start therapy. Through the years our friends and extended family were supporting us every step of the way. Our son received a cochlear implant at age 18. He is now 35, a college graduate, a husband, and a father to a daughter who is about the age he was when he started school. We have been so blessed.
What a Blessing your brother was to you!
We don’t have many neighbors, but there is an elderly woman–81 years old now, I think–who lives alone just about half a mile away. She sometimes calls us to have my eldest son go over and pick up food she wants to give us. I remember last winter, I had had a hard day at work, and it was freezing and miserable that day, and when I got home, I found she had given my husband a whole bag of food that included soup, tortillas, and cheese, which fed my entire family on soup and quesadillas for dinner. The gift of a meal that I did not have to cook after a hard day is one I will always remember.
She raised five children in a place and time before any sort of restaurants, so she still remembers what it’s like to provide food to a family day in and day out.
Awww! I love your brother for that.
We did a “do it yourself ” military move from Albuquerque to Phoenix in the summer with our 2 year old son. My sister volunteered to fly in from Cincinnati and help us unload the truck! She even brought dinner ingredients with her and made dinner for us! And she doesn’t have kids! I don’t know what we would have done without her!
I didn’t have many adult years without kids (I had my first at age 21), so when I’m an empty-nester, I hope to make up for that by helping people the same way your sister did.
I have soooo many that I don’t know where to begin. Like you, I could write a book.
P.S. if you wrote this book, Kristen, I would buy it!😉
Oddly, a book seems like too much work to me.
But somehow, writing 5 blog posts a week for 12 years does not seem like too much work.
Am I logical? No.