Back in early July, I hinted that I had a family situation to deal with and I said I'd be away for a while. I can't go into a lot of details, but I can tell you that the family issue was my mom's health. She had a light stroke on July 3rd. The term "light stroke" seems ridiculously under-named when you see your mom unable to walk or even sit up under her own power. But Mom responded better than anybody might have imagined.
She was in the hospital for nearly a month, during which she underwent a ton of physical therapy to help her rebuild her strength--mostly on the left side of her body. She worked hard and by the time she came home in late July, she was much better. She still needed a lot of physical therapy, but she responded well to it and thankfully she's on the road to recovery.
She would tell you that it's been a group effort. My sister and I helped her. Some of her friends from work have called or sent cards and that lifted her spirits. People from my church brought over meals. And her neighbors have been unbelievable.
During Mom's hospital stay, several of them came over an introduced themselves while my sister and I took care of things at the house. Since Mom came home, they've done things that I have never seen neighbors do. One guy, who lives across the street, installed a garage door opener for her. Another neighbor is taking Mom to church on Saturday nights. Another plans to fix her car. Another calls, visits, and watches her house. On and on it goes.
She subscribed to one of those services that provides a button she wears around her neck that she can push in case she falls. They needed three names of people they could call who live within 15 minutes as sort of a first line of defense. She asked three of her neighbors and they were all willing to help.
And now that I think about it, this goes back further than when she had a stroke. In March, as she was returning home from work during a snowstorm, she got stuck on the street she lives in. One of her neighbors came out and dug her car out of the snow and helped her get it into the garage.
Imagine how many problems would disappear if all of us had such neighbors. And maybe more importantly...imagine how many problems would disappear if all of us were such neighbors.
