The Gesture is Greater

A close girlfriend came down with Covid-19. It was a busy week for me. My daughter was failing in high school, making up daily excuses to stay home. Every morning was a break-of-dawn battle. As I worked during the school day, my daughter would complain of ailments and beg me to pick her up early. My son was trying out for middle school soccer, so in addition to driving my daughter to and from school, doctor appointments and horseback riding, I had to pick him up after her activities were over. Once the kids were home, I walked the beat as the homework police while cooking dinner and doing household chores. I was exhausted. I wanted to do something for my sick friend. She was alone and couldn’t go out. Normally I would make chicken soup, but I didn’t have the bandwidth. By the time I could get a care package together, my friend had been sick for six days. So I brewed her some lemongrass tea – a cure for the common cold in our home. It probably wouldn’t cure Covid, but I figured it was worth a shot. I added some canned chicken soup to the package. I didn’t know if either would benefit her by that time and I wished I’d done better, but I dropped them off on her porch anyway.

It probably wouldn’t cure Covid, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Later, she texted me a thanks, saying that after so much time alone, she was feeling lonely and forgotten. She told me she was running out of chicken soup, so my care package was just what she needed. I realized that my standards for promptness and soup quality didn’t matter. My timing was perfect. My friend was grateful to know that I was thinking about her, and the gesture itself was more valuable than the contents of the care package. I did the best that I could at the time, and it was enough.