I once read that “One should be careful who they tell information too. There is a difference between being curious and actually caring.” The older I get, the more I find this to be true. So many people at work or in every day life ask you questions just to start a conversation or gather information to pass around. It’s exhausting, hurtful, and makes it very hard to figure out who can actually be trusted. Determining who wants to know about our lives without having a motive is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Thankfully, I have a handful of friends that I feel confident actually CARE. One huge representation of one is a guy from my past. When we were younger (like thirteen years younger than I am now), we dated each other long distance. We were kids but actually did truly love each other. His parents didn’t know we were together, as he lived a long ways away from me. On one of my letters, I put a lot of hearts which his parents saw and opened. That was the end of our adolescent dating years.
We every once in a while would keep in touch but had years where we just parted ways and did our own thing. I never forgot about him though, as he had a kind heart which is an extreme rarity these days. So in 2013 when I was going through my divorce, I reached out to him. I’d like to say that in the beginning it was because I truly missed HIM. But I was vulnerable, sad, hurting, and extremely lonely. ((Why do we girls go to that place of feeling like we are worthless??)) Anyway, he did respond and the more we talked, the more I realized I had really missed him.
This person for the past nine months has listened, advised, understood, comforted, and invited me to his home. I got to meet his sweet family and enjoy getting to know him after years and years of being apart. Many men would try to take advantage of a woman that is weak and going through a divorce. However, he was always respectful and never once did that. There was never an expectation, form of repayment, or other for his support in my life. He was just there to be my friend. And that was enough for him.
Upon hearing that I was sleeping on an air mattress, extremely sick, and paying off a bed on lay away..he offered to help. I have NEVER accepted money from a friend. Coffee, books, thrifted furniture (YES) but money…no. It’s not that my friends would not have offered it at one point or another (and vice verso), but everyone is always poor & trying to stay alive. For a minute, my x husband had come back into my life and claimed to want to help me in some way. I told him about the bed, how I was sleeping on the floor, and so miserable. Never once did he offer $5 to help me pay off the bed. Nor offer me dinner, dog food, clothing, or anything that would help my quality of life. And yet here was my good friend, who didn’t have much, willing to step up and help me. If this doesn’t let you know a lot about someones character, I don’t know what does.
I realized which person actually cared about my situation and which person was just curious about it.
My amazing grandfather wanted to go ahead and get a jump start on me getting a bed ASAP so he went ahead and paid it off. Despite that, my friend was willing to help pay him back for doing that for me. Today, I received a check for $280 from my friend. The ENTIRE amount my grandfather had put down. I never get to pay my grandfather back for anything sadly. I just never have the extra money or ability to do it. So the fact that I can now, makes me incredibly emotional and thankful to this person. I’ve always had a really hard time allowing anyone to help me. I never feel secure and have always braced myself to lose everything.
So to my friend who did this for me, THANK YOU. For offering, keeping your word, going above and beyond, and showing me there is still good out there.
Do You Suppose She's A Wildflower? 