Being There

Being there is a gift.

Being there for those in trouble, in pain, in need.

The many times I wished I was there:

When my mother broke her ankle.

When my father had a stroke.

When my father died.

For all the family members I lost on the East Coast, while I worked every day on the West.

My small family is now even smaller;

My mother’s sister and her husband.

My father’s brother and his wife, they had no children.

My father's sister and her husband and recently both their sons.

All those years my grandmother, Babci in Worcester, was in the nursing home. My dad after the stroke, nine years in a nursing home. My return to the USA took much time and effort to be able to afford travel again.

Really feeling all that deep emotions as many of the people in my circle are passing away or moving to one of those homes. I had lunch with a friend who was instrumental in my professional growth. She is 90, realizing after her husband passed and Covid it's been many years since we met in person, though we talk now and then.

Went to a hospital to visit a friend whose situation is dire, not afraid of hospitals but seeing someone close in age, really suffer hurt my heart. Considering it was about a year ago I had that fateful accident it upset me to my very core that personally I couldn't do anything to relieve their pain.

These days with so many going through the cycles of life, I do my best to be there.

Hoping that being there for loved ones now will help ease the pain I feel for all the times I couldn't.