My grandma, Sherry, she tells everyone that she is “fine” even through her most painful days.
She lives by that saying because she’s a woman who wants to spread love to any and everybody. She has health issues of her own – two artificial knees, a heart condition and crippling arthritis – but they don’t stop her from helping others. My grandma She is strong. Even with times where she needs to put herself first, she doesn’t.
When she learned that a friend in Eden, North Carolina, she drove an hour and a half to visit. She knew some elders in the area, too, so she decided to check in with them, too. One was an eighty-seven year old man who needed food. She brought a meal, sat with him and had a conversation. Then she did the same for another. And another.
“If I think someone else is in more need then I help them as long as I’m able,” she says.
My grandma is strong. Even when she needs to put herself first, she doesn’t. She has great risk, but also recognizes that there’s always someone who has a greater need than her.
Compassion is essential during chaotic times like these. People on the frontlines, whether it be in the hospital fighting tirelessly every day or at home giving their last loaf of bread or toilet paper to their neighbor, are spreading good news while much of the world wakes up every day thinking of the bad.
The people who spread good news when the whole world wakes up every day to the bad. The people who, like my grandma, go out their way to give to others in need. You don’t get the recognition you deserve.
I applaud every single person working their essential jobs as well as those helping others while they stay at home.
Here’s to those who give. Thanks to them, you will be just fine.
