Because that's what people do, he said

Monday, March 14, 2011

The headlines are impossible.  The news is cataclysmic.  I woke at 3 this morning and came downstairs, praying that something in Japan had changed for the better.  It had not.  I sat here staring.

The night before, Saturday, rifled through with a bad case of food poisoning, I found myself curled up, exhausted, on a cold tile floor.  It was dark, a night now veering toward morning, and suddenly I heard my son on the other side of the door, roused, I suppose, from bed.  "What can I do for you, Mom?" he said.  "Should I call a doctor?"

Later, many hours later, I thanked him for his compassion, his concern.  He shrugged.  "It's not anything that anybody else wouldn't do," he said, "for somebody they loved."  Making it sound so easy, making me think, again, of the hundreds of thousands of survivors in Japan who need, just now, someone like my son—huge hearted and strong bodied, gifted with healing compassion.

6 comments:

Jini Loos said...

We are SO LUCKY Beth!

bermudaonion said...

You are so right. We donated some money, but it seems like nothing when the people there need so much. My heart breaks every time I see pictures from Japan.

Unknown said...

What a sweetheart. Both of you.

Unknown said...

I hope you're feeling better. Food poisoning is awful.

I find it hard to watch the news images and reports on Japan because I feel for the people and I'm helpless. It's devestating. My heart goes out to the people whose lives are impacted by the earhquake and resulting damage.

septembermom said...

so hard to know what to say when something like this happens

hope you're feeling better my friend.

Anonymous said...

I hope you're feeling better. We sure have a lot to feel grateful for.

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