My friend, Gloria, left a message on my answering machine
last night: “Do you know it has been nine days since we have seen each other?”
Indeed, Day 17 of this Advent blog describes my trip to the movies with Gloria.
She also told me that it had been a week since she had even been out of her
apartment, since the weather had been so darn cold.
My first act of LOVE, then, this morning, was to call her
and ask if she would like to go out for coffee. Well, in fact, no, she had
exercise class this morning, and then a visit from a friend that afternoon, but
thanks anyway.
Sometimes Gloria will call me with a small list of items she
needs at the grocery store, items I pick up when I do my regular shopping. This
week it was business envelopes and chocolates (!). I told her I had the purchases in my car, and she
said, “Oh, you can just drop them off.” I said “No, I’m coming in because we
have to get caught up.”
We met in the lobby of the assisted living facility where
she lives. She bought me coffee, and we chatted.
I’d like to say my act of LOVE was to listen, and in fact it
was. But truth be told, she ended up doing a lot more listening; I just had so
much to tell her.
So, here is what I have to say today about LOVE. First, we
all really do loving acts all day long, like shopping for each other, buying
coffee, and listening. We just need to notice these acts, and probably try to do
them more often. Second, good conversation is one of the most supreme acts of
LOVE. It lets me know that I and my trifling stories are worthwhile, and it lets the
other person know that they are worthy of my attention and LOVE, which indeed they are.
No comments:
Post a Comment