The summer that Richard was in the hospital, there was a housing shortage in Los Alamos for students that were working at the lab. This was a pretty common issue, as housing in LA is hard to find, and expensive when you do find it. There was a young man that expressed an interest in finding a place to live, and we were not home too much since we were in Albuquerque most of the time, so we offered for him to live at our house rent free. I met him and felt good about having him live with us. Besides, the house we were living in in Albuquerque was offered my someone we didn't know and we had free reign of the entire house, so I certainly felt a sense of obligation to reciprocate for someone else.
After Richard came home, he volunteered at the school I taught at by working with some students that were having trouble reading. He also helped me teach a unit on electricity. He really loved working with the kids, and the kids loved having him there. His expertise was priceless.
Several times after we had moved away, we would visit UNM Trauma ICU department with cupcakes for the families that were waiting there. Once a woman said, "How much?", and I tried to explain that I wasn't charging anything, I had been where she is, and I just wanted to make her day a little better. She seemed a little suspicious, but she took a cupcake anyway, and I am grateful. It was not much, but something that we could do.
One of our church leaders said:
"For many years there was a sign on the wall of a shoe repair shop I patronized. It read, “I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.” The most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose ourselves in the service of others.
I believe that for most of us the best medicine for loneliness is work and service in behalf of others. I do not minimize your problems, but I do not hesitate to say that there are many others whose problems are more serious than yours. Reach out to serve them, to help them, to encourage them. There are so many boys and girls who fail in school for want of a little personal attention and encouragement. There are so many elderly people who live in misery and loneliness and fear for whom a simple conversation would bring a measure of hope and brightness. …
There are so many who have been injured and who need a good Samaritan to bind up their wounds and help them on their way. A small kindness can bring a great blessing to someone in distress and a sweet feeling to the one who befriends him.
There are so many out there whose burdens you can lift. There are the homeless, there are the hungry, there are the destitute all around us. There are the aged who are alone in rest homes. There are handicapped children, and youth on drugs, and the sick and the homebound who cry out for a kind word. If you do not do it, who will?
The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired." ---Gordon B. Hinckley
My advice is to go out and find someone that needs something, and provide that need. It makes your day, even your outlook on life is so much more positive, because you gave, expecting nothing in return. I can't repay all the kindnesses shown to our family over these years, but I can "pay them forward" in many ways, and there is nothing more gratifying than doing so. The unselfish service that we received for a very long period time taught me a lot about people. It showed me the goodness of people. While most of them didn't give money, which is is something that comes easily to some, they gave their time and efforts, and love, and that is worth much more than money could ever be.
"For many years there was a sign on the wall of a shoe repair shop I patronized. It read, “I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.” The most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose ourselves in the service of others.
I believe that for most of us the best medicine for loneliness is work and service in behalf of others. I do not minimize your problems, but I do not hesitate to say that there are many others whose problems are more serious than yours. Reach out to serve them, to help them, to encourage them. There are so many boys and girls who fail in school for want of a little personal attention and encouragement. There are so many elderly people who live in misery and loneliness and fear for whom a simple conversation would bring a measure of hope and brightness. …
There are so many who have been injured and who need a good Samaritan to bind up their wounds and help them on their way. A small kindness can bring a great blessing to someone in distress and a sweet feeling to the one who befriends him.
There are so many out there whose burdens you can lift. There are the homeless, there are the hungry, there are the destitute all around us. There are the aged who are alone in rest homes. There are handicapped children, and youth on drugs, and the sick and the homebound who cry out for a kind word. If you do not do it, who will?
The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired." ---Gordon B. Hinckley
My advice is to go out and find someone that needs something, and provide that need. It makes your day, even your outlook on life is so much more positive, because you gave, expecting nothing in return. I can't repay all the kindnesses shown to our family over these years, but I can "pay them forward" in many ways, and there is nothing more gratifying than doing so. The unselfish service that we received for a very long period time taught me a lot about people. It showed me the goodness of people. While most of them didn't give money, which is is something that comes easily to some, they gave their time and efforts, and love, and that is worth much more than money could ever be.
I also feel such a closeness with those people, that community, that surrounded us with love that it is hard to feel truly home except in that place. I will always love the people of Los Alamos and White Rock for their unselfish service to us in ways that I never realized could make such a difference when you are in the depths of despair. I thank them for that. They taught me a great deal, and I am indebted to them in ways that I can never repay.
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| On the 4th of July using a day pass from HealthSouth. A student of mine and his family painted the rock so we had to have his picture taken with it. What a sweet gesture. |
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