Help From an Unexpected Source

A day or two before Skip came home, I got a call from the minister at the church where we are members. It's the local Unitarian Universalist congregation (for those of you not familiar with UUs, it's on the far left end of the Protestant religion continuum). I went to this church as a kid, when my parents lived here in town. Skip and I started going there about a dozen years ago, but over the last 4 or 5 years have pretty much stopped participating. (It's funny, before we started going, my mother kept telling us to join, as there were lots of lesbian couples there. Turns out, she was right!)

While Skip was in the hospital, she'd asked that it be kept somewhat quiet so as to minimize the number of visitors she received. She prefers only visits from a few close friends and family members. As a result, word didn't get out to members of the congregation until near the end of Skip's stay.

Anyway, the minister, KL, called to give her condolences and offer support. In particular, she told me that some members of the congregation can actively provide support to families like ours at times like this. They can run errands, visit and provide meals. I welcomed the offer of help, especially if someone could provide a dinner here or there. I checked in with Skip, who agreed that would be most welcome, and I let KL know when she called back yesterday that we'd welcome the help.

This morning, I got our first call from a member of the congregation, checking in to see if there was anything we needed today, like an errand run or a meal. With MW cooking tonight, no need for a meal, so we're okay today. But, come Friday, when MW isn't working, I am hoping we'll be able to have someone stop by with a casserole. Frankly, I can't wait!