Empathy: Part II

I had been cooped up in the house suffering from cabin fever after 4 weeks of recovering from the by-pass. My dear friend Bill Rutledge offered to drive me to Wal-mart to pick up my prescriptions. All day long I looked forward to his arrival and the drive out into the cool air and his company. By the time we got to the store all I could think about is this must be how many elderly folks feel when their son, daughter, niece, nephew or friend comes to take them to church or shopping--anywhere. This small thing was a huge event for me and perhaps it is for them as well.

I'm pretty sure Bill didn't recognize what an important service he was performing and I'm sure that you probably didn't either if you've ever done something so seemingly simple.

The great poet/country singer John Prine has a song about "old people" with a powerful line that goes something like, "...don't stop and stare. Say hello in there..."

Question? Have you said "hello in there?" lately?