Day 54

What I did:

A lot happened yesterday! First, I was offered more hours with a new client in addition to the client I already work with. I was a little nervous about meeting someone new, even as I already know that the initial awkwardness will wear off as I get to know her better. I spent a few hours with her yesterday, helping with personal care and also general housekeeping. Naturally, I grew very fond of her and her husband as she told me about her life and her family.

I used to care for "adoption babies" as a temporary foster mother until the adoptions were finalized in court. My relationship with these babies began by taking them home from the hospital, as any new mother would. Because of legal hold ups, some of these babies were with me for months before moving on to their new, permanent families. I grew attached to both the infants and even some of the birth mothers who chose to visit them until the adoption took place. It seemed that the mothers needed to know someone really cared about them as much as people cared about their babies.

Now that I am blessed by being able to take care of people at the other end of life, there is still the "risk" of becoming attached to them. I say it is a risk, because the loss of anyone we care for is hard. Yesterday really opened my eyes. These people who have lived out most of their lives are just as precious as any newborn person. In the end, we never outgrow our need for the human touch and loving care.

I also had some personal confirmation about some of the things I have been tossing around on this blog. I did get a nice comment from "Shannon" on the last post. Even as I hit the "publish post" button, I was thinking yesterday's post was a little long winded, and as Shannon pointed out - there was a lot of scripture! This blog has been about my own personal journey through sixty days of an experiment to see what would happen if I consistently did the right thing in areas had ignored before, so even the post yesterday was part of that journey. I am just very honored that there are people who have found it interesting enough to stop by and read. Thank you for your comments :)

Ok, wrapping it up here...my little one is having a huge struggle with trying to quit sucking her thumb! She was told at her last visit with the dentist that it was ok to suck her thumb, but when she turns five, she should probably stop. They even went as far as to tell me it's not really until the adult teeth begin to emerge that it could become a problem. I have remained pretty relaxed and watchful about all of this because my daughter has worried enough about it for the both of us! She begged me to get her some lemon juice for her fifth birthday to put on her thumb to make it taste bad (my son's girlfriend actually got some gourmet lemon flavoring and put a bow on it)! Well, my little girl brought the bottle to me last night and asked me if I thought she should have it on her thumb. I said "Sure". She then began to cry and ask me why!

What I learned:

1. Take care of others the way you would want to be cared for (The Golden Rule).

2. Loss is never easy - whether it's the loss of people we care about, or the loss of a way of life (like sucking one's thumb).

3. Loving others is worth the risk of losing them.

4. Even when we desperately want something to change, we have to understand that getting from point A to point B can be a rough road.

5. There's always something we can learn from a child's point of view.

6. Kids are funny!

Until Tomorrow (make that Monday)~~~Elizabeth