A great kindness: a significant act or gift that goes beyond what was expected or imagined.
This great kindness came to Jer and I unexpectedly, bringing us hope and joy, just as we were about to enter a period of struggle and heartache.
I mentioned in my last post that our mother’s health had been declining, especially with my mom. She had been put on hospice and died only thirteen days later after having a couple of amazingly happy weeks with lots of visits from the family. While we knew this would eventually be the outcome, we hadn’t expected it to happen so swiftly.
There had already been extra stressor at work and life, as we all face from time to time. Kindness number one was that my mother passed peacefully and painlessly in her sleep. The other great kindness had started a few weeks earlier.
Jer and I met a new couple, Joel and Molly, and were telling them about our building project. Joel happened to be a licensed electrician. He and Molly offered to come up one weekend and wire our house voluntarily. Wow! What a great kindness! We planned for several weeks out, not knowing in between my mother would pass.
If you ever gone through losing a loved one where you were the responsible party, you know how crazy hard it can be to deal with death and all the details. After a week I went back to work, but it felt like I was moving in slow motion. Still, we decided to keep the date to wire the home, just eleven days after my mother passed. We figured it would be good to get out of town and in a different space for a couple days.
Joel, Jer, and Molly went to work while I still felt stuck in the quicksand of grief. Needless to say, I wasn’t much help. By Sunday mid-morning, most everything was wired.
The magnitude of what they had done for us really hit me. How could I ever accept such a gift? How could I ever express my gratitude for the work they did. When I did try, tears came. I’m not a big crier. Maybe it was the mix of grief and gratitude. I’ve experienced this feeling before, knowing someone did something for me that I didn’t deserve and had no way to pay it back, even if they aren’t asking. Joel even said he’d come out again and help us finish. This great kindness left me feeling loved and cared for when I really needed it.