Keep it Real Wednesday
Helping hand
August 5, 2020
This past weekend I celebrated my 60th birthday and decided to commemorate it by renting a gigantic blow up Slip and Slide on the hottest day of the year in our front yard.
Neighbors gathered and we all squealed like kids as we took a running jump on our bellies and slid the 32 feet down the wet plastic surface into a pool of water. Rosemary even sat outside in the yard and delighted in watching all the fun.
My goal before the end of the night was to make it all the way down the slide to the end; all 32 feet. The children and other adults all seemed to reach the end with ease but I struggled. I would make it halfway and get stuck and wiggle the rest of the way down the slide.
I wanted to give up but kept on going.
I finally did make it the end but not by myself. As my husband Wade and I both slid on our bellies together in that 108-degree heat, he gently reached out to me, and I to him, and he dragged me to the finish as we both splashed in the pool.
Friends, we are not in this journey alone. As care providers, it can be lonely and difficult to muddle through all the aspects of full time care providing. The emotional roller coaster alone can be exhausting.
As I watched the video of Wade giving me helping hand to the finish, the lesson was clear to me. We are not born in a spirit of weakness and we absolutely do need to keep reaching and trying in all aspects of life. But we also need to know when we need a helping hand.
Reach out for help when you need to.
