The Support of Friends

It has been a very difficult few days. As I describe, you’ll understand why you’ve seen no posts for a couple of days.

Friday the movers brought our furniture over from the old house (for which we still don’t have a buyer) to the new one. By the end of the day I was exhausted from running upstairs and downstairs, first in the old house to make sure the movers brought the right things over (since some things were being put in the garage to be donated) and then in the new house to show them where things go. We were all too tired to do too much unpacking, although I did manage to get dinner on the table.

During the night Friday, my husband collapsed and had to be taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room, Elena and I following behind. The whole experience was terrifying, but fortunately tests ruled out life-threatening problems and he was released yesterday afternoon with the need for follow-up tests.

Saturday was exhausting, but I ended the day with profound gratitude to our friends. Mark showed up at the hospital in the morning, just to be with me for a while, since he knew how stressed I was feeling. Later in the day, when I took a break from the hospital to go do some cleaning at the old house (since we need to have it ready to show prospective buyers – and you know what it looks like when you move furniture that hasn’t been moved in 7 years), his wife Anne showed up to help clean – after she had worked most of the day. Phil stood ready to pick up Dave at the hospital on Sunday if I needed to be elsewhere. (We were expecting delivery of a bed at the time I thought Dave would be released.) Gene offered to drive four hours from his home to help in any way he could, and helped me settle my emotions during a long phone call. Dave’s siblings were in contact throughout the day.

And Elena was amazing. In the ER with me from 4:30 am, she drove to the old house to do several hours of morning cleaning before going off to sing at a wedding. After the wedding, with no rest, she went back to the hospital so I could go do some more cleaning. Then, getting home before I did, she had everything prepared for dinner.

It is hard for me to ask for help. It is not all that easy for me to accept it. But I think truly embracing love and relationship means being willing to accept as well as give help. This weekend I was on the receiving end and I am enormously grateful to the friends who were there for us.

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