Who Your Friends Are

Man, there is nothing like a serious illness to bring people out of the woodwork. I'm feeling extremely blessed at the moment.

As most of you who hop in regularly know, HWMNBMOTI was in the hospital last week for a GI bleed. It was serious. VERY serious. He was actually there Sunday to Thursday, and you KNOW insurance dictates nobody stay any longer than absolutely necessary. I was worried and scared. And I was effectively a single mom all week on top of it, so only the very most basic things got done.

I shopped and cooked. I did a little laundry. I worked and visited my husband. But the NORMAL stuff that gets done in a week didn't get done.


But then the Help started flowing.

Jackie, my couch to keg buddy, brought by some soup and couscous salad, and then drank a glass of wine with me to let me worry and vent.

Neighbor after neighbor asked what we needed.

Caden mowed our front yard.

Jean mowed our back yard.

Last night he went for a walk and bit off more than he could chew, so Stephanie drove him home.

So to everyone who has helped--THANK YOU!  And thank you ALSO to all willing who haven't been called upon, yet.

Seriously, though—I have lost track of how many people have offered to help us out. It is humbling and heartwarming. I love where we live. My husband gets the credit for establishing most of these relationships—he is out and about, walking the dog. He meets people. He keeps an eye out for the comings and goings and is early to notice if something big happens—when the man down the street passed after YEARS of illness—when someone has a new puppy or is pregnant. I joke that he is Mrs. Kravitz, but people appreciate that someone knows what time it is on the street.

I'm the geek writing in the basement most of the time, but I'm trying to walk with him now, as he is still pretty wobbly. Apparently blood loss is something very slow to recover from. If it had been down to me, none of these people ever would have even noticed. But he is good. He knows everyone.

And that investment is coming back in spades.

So this summer, as you scrap for your writing time, don't forget that investment in real life people. Spending some time to make and maintain friendships might be something you really need one day, and you will be glad you've put in the effort.

soon, we hope, though we haven't looked for eggs

On a Side Note

Our birdies are still happily nested in the mailbox. The female is sort of used to us. She will fly off if you stop and stare, but when we come and go, she is fine and I can see her in there, nested in her little hidey hole. There is a white line at her neck when she is hunched down, so I can tell if she is there or not pretty quickly. But so long as I keep moving, I can move slowly, now and she puts up with me. She really is so cute! Hopefully we will have babies one day soon.