Most Loving Thing…

02/14/2005

I listened to part of the Dr. Laura show on the ol’ AM station today and she was having guests call in and answer the question, “What is the most loving thing you’ve seen someone else do?”
So, I got to thinking about what my answer would be. I thought of things that were awesome…but had to reject several things because I didn’t actually see them. Then, I thought of lots of romantic, wonderful things, but they didn’t seem to encapsulate LOVE for me. Then I started thinking about the really self-sacrificial things people do just because they love someone. Here’s my list so far (in no particular order):
1. My parents supporting my brother through school. Wow, that one totally stressed them out. But I just saw them day to day doing everything they could to love him and keep him on the right track and not let him slip through the cracks.
2. My parents were 4-H leaders and some “kids from the other side of the tracks” wanted to come to the camp. A lot of the other parents didn’t want them to come because they thought they’d be a bad influence on the “good” kids. My parents really stood up to these other parents insisting that these kids should be allowed to come. Then they engaged all of the kids at the camp in activities that kind of broke down good-kid/bad-kid boundaries (even if only for a moment). I also watched my parents continually go alongside other parents or kids to be supportive and be an example and be a friend…
3. Hearing Don Postema say that he went to see Mickey Blue Eyes because his kids wanted to see it. *shudders*
4. When I lost my second baby, Josh’s mom called me one day. She didn’t say anything when I picked up the phone and we both just cried together. I felt totally connected to her and her love for me, even though we were in different states. Lots of other people wanted to tell me stuff to make me feel better, but she helped me to just feel loved.
5. When Josh let me get Henson. I was getting depressed, but we couldn’t afford a dog and couldn’t have one where we were living. He got Henson and he’s been my little buddy and running companion ever since. I know that Josh sacrificed a lot for us to make that happen.
6. When we moved from San Jose to Cupertino. Josh’s folks were coming out to visit and I was way stressed about having to entertain them. It wasn’t that way at all. They came and fixed stuff all around our house, helped unpack stuff, bought groceries, cleaned things (including our own apartment). I’ve never had anyone do anything like that for me before. They spent their vacation helping us. For free (…at least I haven’t received a bill yet).