Gesture of Gratitude

Yesterday I had the honor of meeting our CareTeam partner for the first time. Since our CareTeam is brand new, I was the first one to meet him. I was a bit nervous, because I knew there might be language difficulties, and I wanted him to feel the love and support that our whole team has for him.


The time was delightful! We did fine talking a mix of Spanish and English (very poor Spanish on my part), and accomplished our mission: a trip to the grocery store for much needed items.


We made our way through Fred Meyer, he with his walker and portable oxygen tank, and me following dutifully behind with the cart, as he picked out each thing he needed. When we got to the produce section, as he was picking out tomatoes & onions, I noticed the beautiful sweet potatoes (and remembered that we were out at home), and told him I was going to grab a few.


Grocery list tackled, we headed to the checkout stands. I loaded his items onto the belt, then grabbed a divider and plopped my sweet potatoes on next. Our partner looked over and immediately said "No, no - they are together." I had to blink back the tears as I realized that this man, who has so little, was making such a gesture of gratitude by paying for my groceries along with his own. It was one of those moments when I got to remember the truth that when we give, we almost always receive back far more than we contribute.


I have a feeling that our CareTeam, eight great people from Overlake Christian Church, are going to discover that it is going to be difficult to "out give" our CarePartner, because we have so much to learn and to receive in our efforts to reach out in compassion to those who suffer.


Linda, a new CareTeam Member