How is your week going?
I must say my week isn’t going at all to plan! And it’s only Wednesday!
Let me tell you about it…
As usual I started the week with a list to get done and full calendar. This week was looking particularly hectic as I was due to commence some part time contract work Tuesday and my parents are moving house from Thursday. So as they say “my dance card was full” In fact it was crazily overflowing!
Prepared and confident, I sent my husband off to work Monday morning with a kiss and good wishes for a great day. I savored my Monday morning coffee while prioritising my list. Nothing unusual about that. Everything was going to plan
Fast forward an hour and a half…
I found myself sitting in the emergency room talking to doctors and nurses, listening to machines beep and alarms attached to my husband wail in protest. My amazing husband who rarely gets sick is apparently not well at all and needed a stay in hospital at least overnight and probably for a few days to have tests. Suddenly nothing on my list mattered! My new employer and my parents would just have to manage without me – I needed to be with my husband!
The wait begins
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced the “joys” of a hospital stay but let me tell you there is a lot of waiting. Waiting for your turn for procedures and tests, waiting while the results are analysed, waiting for doctors to do their rounds then waiting to be transferred to a different hospital where the waiting will start for the next procedure. The waiting seems endless. There are 100s if not 1000s of other people waiting too. Throw in a public holiday and the wait is even longer! As you wait, there is heightened anxiety about the unknown and at times a little panic when an alarm goes off when it shouldn’t. After all that waiting boredom creeps in. Especially when there is no getting out of bed at all.
Sometimes among the waiting there is a beautiful ray of sunshine, an average joke that makes you giggle uncontrollably (it wasn’t that funny), a glimmer of hope or a kind selfless gesture that’s completely unexpected.
The visit
Yesterday, after what could be described the “most boring day on the planet”, Steve was finally allowed to go for a lap or two round the ward. As we took a break in foyer our wonderful friends showed up with their three youngest children in tow. Seeing them all was a breath of fresh air! They talked to us about everything except why Steve was wearing a pretty purple hospital gown and had his new best friend, a monitor by his side.
For them, a phone call wasn’t enough! A face to face check was in order as they know Steve and I use humour to cope and we tend to downplay seriousness of a situation so as not to worry anyone. It’s a little frustrating that they weren’t “buying” the “He’s ok – it’s just some tests” line that we’d been giving everyone. (Steve isn’t one to make a fuss!) They trooped up to see us on a “school night” to make sure we were both doing okay. We appreciated every second of their visit and felt even more “okay” afterwards.
The hand drawn card
The most selfless gesture of all, came from their youngest daughter, Maddie. This beautiful 11 year old, gave Steve a hand drawn card. Steve said I have to share it with you…
He loves it. Not because it’s a Picasso but because Maddie invested her time and energy to draw it for him when she had basically no supplies available. (I suspect she did it in the car on the way to the hospital)
What’s important is that it is heartfelt! This little piece of paper with its blue biro drawing means so much more to him than a million store bought cards. It touched our hearts, brought both of us comfort and said “I love you”and “I want you to be ok”.
Time and again, I hear people say “I’m not creative so I couldn’t possible make a card.” My answer to that is “You don’t need to be! If you can follow a basic recipe or instructions, hold a pair of scissors and use tape or glue you can make a card!” Trust me it is that easy!
Look at Maddie’s card again. It made a huge difference to Steve’s (and my) day. It isn’t fancy or perfect but conveyed to Steve that he is loved, she wants him to be well and he is important enough for her to make something with what she has. Surely, the people you love are worth 10 or 15 minutes that you could spend making a card. (Yes you can make a great card in under 15 minutes)
With Maddie’s card in mind, today seems a perfect day to share with you a poem that I came across last week:
What’s a Greeting Card?
It’s a little piece of paper
That tells someone how you care;
It can be a ray of sunshine —
It can be a wish or prayer.
It can simply say, “I love you”
Or just say, “I understand”
It can be a little visit,
Or the clasp of someone’s hand.
It can be a word of comfort
When somebody’s heart is sad,
It can be a smile or chuckle
Making someone’s heart feel glad.
It can keep folks close together
Even though they’re far apart;
It can show someone you’re thankful
From the bottom of your heart.
It can travel any distance
In all kinds of weather, too.
And it has the “magic something”
That some “big things”never do.
Yes, it’s just a piece of paper
And it costs no big amount,
But it proves that old, old saying;
It’s the little things that count.”
– (Author Unknown)
Isn’t that beautiful?
So if an emotionally intelligent 11 year old made a difference to our day with just a piece of paper and a pen, just imagine how your cards can make a difference to someone’s day. It only takes a moment. #makeacard #sendacard #itsthelittlethingsthatcount
If you’d like to learn to make a card, come to one of my card making classes in September for step by step instructions – Find out more here.
PS: Steve is doing okay, in good spirits and having some tests Thursday. Fingers crossed he’ll be home in a few days. Life is never boring when we’re together.
