It’s A Wonderful Life After All

Yes, I know, that’s a big turnaround in a very short time. But it’s not incipient mania that’s making me feel a bit like George Bailey these days; it’s finding out how much I really am loved. There has been such an outpouring of support from so many different people and places that I’m overwhelmed! I never dreamed I’d touched so many lives, even though my friends list is fairly long and I have followers both here and at the nursing website I frequent. But when my friend, “K”, spread the word that Will and I were in dire straits, the response was tremendous and continues as I write this.

Now I think I know what this struggle was designed to teach me. When Will and I were doing all right financially, we spent money casually and seldom thought about the less fortunate—a $20 bill tossed in the collection basket at church on Sundays and a few cans of soup for the annual food drive were pretty much it. We wanted only to forget our own humble beginnings, and it never occurred to either of us that we might need help again someday.

How arrogant we were in our big house on the hill. And how wrong.

Well, that day has arrived, and my friends and family have come to the rescue in more ways than one. We haven’t found a place to live yet, and there’ll still be a lot of misery to be endured before we’ll have anything resembling a normal life. My moods are dependent on what’s happening on a day-to-day basis, and my baseline is still somewhat depressed. But I’m rediscovering my faith in God and humanity; and even though there’ll be no presents for Christmas, just knowing that people care is a gift all unto itself…..one that won’t wear out or be forgotten after the holidays are over.