Visiting Teaching

It's funny how life has a way of educating you, even when you're not aware.

A few years ago, as a Visiting Teacher, my partner and I were assigned a fast friend.   We learned a lot about her aging parents in those visits.  Every month there would be more pieces of her desire to be a good daughter against the hardship of caring for their more frequent needs.  My partner had also watched with care as her mother battled with cancer that eventually took her life away.  Between the two of them, I would sit quietly and listen to their concerns and stories; sometimes smiling and other times shaking my head in awe.  I watched their patience, concern, and love for their parents with gratitude.  It was a privilege to be in the same room with them.  I have thought a lot about those visits and have come to realize that I was there for a reason.

My parents, at the time seemed so much younger and able.  I didn't ever put myself in their shoes because I wasn't there yet.  But I was aware of every gesture of compassion, or else I wouldn't even remember.  It's like I was filling my back pack with the understanding that I might need to pull out for myself someday.  Those were sweet days and I value what they taught me, even though I was unaware.  As life moves along, those influences of instruction mean more to me every day.  I feel I am a better person because I witnessed their examples of courage and faith, that I now know are stored in my back pack of knowledge.