“You’re a good person,” my pastor said, ” and good people get hurt.”
“Further, good people are rare.”
That counseling conversation occurred long ago, but it’s seared into my soul because of life experiences that caused me great harm and hurt, thankfully not everlasting.
Good people are spontaneously kind people, people with values and core beliefs that guide their behavior without thought. Good people value others’ needs, wants, and desires. Though they need not subordinate their own needs, wants, and desires to be considered good, they do stuff without accolade or reward.
My husband is a good person. Look at that smile in the photo taken during our 50th wedding anniversary celebration! Indeed, he is rare.
As a caregiver during the first month after knee replacement surgery, he has excelled. He’s seldom flagged, balked, or flaked out on my myriad requests, some of which I’ve been reticent to make. Often, I didn’t even ask; he just stepped up to the plate. As an example, 24/7 elevation and ice are strongly advised for the surgical leg, to reduce the swelling that inevitably occurs when one’s skin and soft tissues have been cut, mangled, and manipulated to insert a new knee. My husband set his alarm to awaken at 2:00 a.m. to change the ice (frozen in water bottles) when we determined that a four hour interval was all that the contents of the ice machine would chill the healing, yet swollen limb sufficiently.
Yes, I, the good scout, slept like that every night for a month. It’s not so hard to do when you know that it’s mandatory. It’s not so hard to do when you have the support of a good person.
My husband is a good person – the best kindred spirit I could ask for.
Our promise, our bond, is that I will do the same necessary chores when his health needs warrant them. I am a good person, too.
Recent Comments